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Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Anyone who had even the barest knowledge or experience with space knew that the universe had an endless amount of interesting planets and locales to discover. One of the more “backwater” ones, so to speak, was Planet Popstar. Nestled at the far end of the universe in a galaxy many assumed to not hold much worth, the planet was rather peaceful…give or take a yearly eldritch horror attack or someone trying to conquer it. However, those were always halted by the planet’s hero, Kirby. Across his many adventures, he had put together a close team of allies known as the Star Allies. It didn't matter power sets or even backgrounds. Kirby could seemingly befriend anyone, even some of said eldritch horrors or attempted conquerors, and, in turn the Star Allies had become something of a family. 

But the Star Allies weren’t the only thing Popstar had to offer. 

Various landmarks also called the planet home, with one of the more interesting ones being the Fountain of Dreams, a magical fountain that, so long as the Star Rod was in place, would prevent anyone within the fountain's range from having nightmares. 

Which is why one resident found herself extremely concerned and upset. 

“That same dream…” Adeleine mumbled to herself as she held her head in her hands. In spite of knowing the Fountain of Dreams was supposed to keep her from getting nightmares, the dreams she’d been having recently certainly felt like nightmares. She remembered running with people she didn’t recognize with the area around her being destroyed by some type of flying monsters. The dream would always end with her getting placed into a spaceship of some kind. Adeleine had no idea if there was more or not, but that was always the part she woke up around. It was all so strange. She’d never had problems with her dreams before. 

“Maybe…maybe a walk will help clear my head….” Adeleine decided as she climbed out of her bed. Grabbing her paintbrush and easel in case she wanted to paint something interesting, she headed out. Many Star Allies were night owls (one was a literal owl , for NOVA’s sake!), so Adeleine had a feeling that, as much as the Star Allies were known for their love of getting a good sleep, there would be someone up for her to talk to if she needed. 

And sure enough, she didn’t have to look far. 

“Hey! Susie!” Adeleine called out to the heiress, who seemed to be tinkering with her business suit. 

“Ah, Adeleine,” Susie greeted her fellow Star Ally. “I’m surprised you are still awake. Regrettably, Marx spiked my drink with caffeine. I’m trying to tire myself out.”

“Classic Marx,” Adeleine couldn’t help but comment with an annoyed head shake. As much as she would consider the mostly reformed jester a friend, Marx’s seemingly constant pranks could make him a hassle to deal with. 

“But what is keeping you awake?” Susie asked, reminding Adeleine why she was out and about so late. 

“This is going to sound so weird…” Adeleine took a breath before continuing. “But I’ve been having nightmares.” As if on cue, Susie raised an eyebrow. 

“But with the Fountain of Dreams active, that should be impossible,” Susie pointed out.She then put a hand on her chin. “I’d say something might possibly be corrupting it, but I have not been having any nightmares and I don’t believe any of the other Star Allies have been having any either.”

“Told you it was weird,” Adeleine replied. “But I’m seeing things that feel…weirdly real…”

“Like a memory?” Susie asked as she set down the tool she was holding before taking a seat on a log she’d been resting her things on, motioning for Adeleine to take a seat next to her. 

“I mean…maybe?” Adeleine replied with an unsure shrug as she sat down. “I didn’t recognize anyone in the dream but…it felt like I should.”

“Believe it or not, I’ve heard of something similar before,” Susie admitted. “When I first arrived with…my father, he started talking about getting dreams of…his daughter. I believe that the Fountain of Dreams was trying to get him to realize who I was…before…it was too late…” Susie trailed off, looking away from Adeleine, who merely placed a hand on her shoulder. In response, Susie merely put her own hand on top of Adeleine. In spite of how much time had passed, the loss of her father at the code of Star Dream still hurt. Whether that was because he died still not even realizing Susie was right in front of him or because Susie herself debatably had a hand in it, not even she was sure. “Sorry to make this all about me…”

“It’s fine,” Adeleine quickly assured her. “I mean, it’s nice to know this isn’t, like, the Fountain of Dreams randomly glitching out and giving me nightmares or something.”

Susie couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “You would be rather unlucky to have that happen to you. Still, perhaps we should try asking someone like King Dedede or Meta Knight tomorrow as they know more about the Fountain than we do. I’d say we could go now, but we both know that Dedede does not like being woken up.”

Adeleine couldn’t help but let out a laugh in response. “Oh yeah. A bomb wouldn’t wake him up and I saw Meta Knight arrive as it got dark. He really hates it when you interrupt his cuddle time with his boyfriend.” Both girls chuckled at that. The king and his beloved “Mety Knight” were the among the earliest hook ups out of the Star Allies, having been together before the group officially formed and Dedede had no issues letting everyone know how much he loved his beloved boyfriend. “Thanks Susie. I was hoping someone would be up to talk.”

“Glad to be of service,” Susie replied with a bow of her head. “I’m still rather hyper from Marx’s prank, so, regrettably, this conversation hasn’t helped me in falling asleep.”

“I’d be happy to stay with you!” Adeleine assured her. “You helped me get some theories on my weird dreams.” Adeleine had no idea how Susie managed to look like she was smiling without a mouth, but at least Adeleine could tell she was happy. 

“Aw, how sweet ,” 

Almost instantly, Susie whipped her blaster out, aiming in the direction that the strangely mechanical sounding voice came from. Adeleine was grateful she remembered her paintbrush. A fight was no doubt on hand. 

“Show yourself!” Susie ordered as she scanned the area, looking for any sign of movement. 

“I mean you no harm…” The voice trailed off as a robed figure stepped out of the darkness. It reminded both girls of Hyness when they fought at the Divine Terminus. Right down to the figure’s eerie glowing eyes. The main difference was his eyes, which were a strange yellow color. From the glow of his eyes, the girls could faintly make out a symbol neither of them had ever seen-a circle with three arrows pointing outwards. 

“Why are you here?” Adeleine asked, hand firmly clutching her paintbrush. For some reason, that symbol was only making her more nervous. The figure merely chuckled. 

“Well, I was sent here by our enlightened leader in order to collect someone with the knowledge needed to bring our savior back into the realm.” The figure then moved his head in a way that revealed his metallic teeth, which were forming a menacing grin. “But I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if I bought a human back with us as well.” Susie and Adeleine only had to share a look to understand how they were both thinking the same thing. 

This guy had a lot more in common with pre-Friend Heart Hyness than just his fashion choices. 

“Well sorry to disappoint, but I am not interested in what is likely a cult in reviving their so-called “savior”,” Susie replied as she motioned for Adeleine to move behind her. She did not trust the way this guy was looking at her.

“A shame,” The seemingly metallic figure replied, his smirk never leaving his face. “I was hoping to convince you to come peacefully. But I suppose our leader was right when he said that creatures of flesh could not truly understand our goals. Especially one with a pet human.” Adeleine flinched at that. He sounded disgusted with her very existence. But what really confused her was the fact he kept calling her a human. And he seemed so sure of it. Adeleine didn’t remember anything before her life in Dreamland, which included her species. So why did this weirdo seem so confident on what she was?

“Alright that’s it,” Susie’s finger was on the trigger of her blaster and she was already pulling back. “You have seconds to go back to whatever junk pile you crawled out of and never show your face here ever again and I’ll consider not chasing you!”

Yet again, the figure merely chuckled. “Such hostility…by luckily, I have ways to deal with it.” Before either girl could question that, two other robed figures rushed out of the shadows and tased both girls into unconsciousness. “Faith, Apollos, well done.” 

“The great Shepard will be pleased with us,” Apollos said with a bow of his head. 

“Are you sure bringing the human is wise, Ark?” Faith, ever the nervous one, asked her leader as he looked over his prizes. 

“Calm yourself Faith,” Ark assured the lone female in the group. “Shepard always speaks of how he wishes could have his chance to show the humans how powerful drone kind has become without them holding us back!”

“Let us be off,” Apollos urged as he picked Susie. She had knowledge they needed after all. “We don’t need any other natives learning of our plans.”

“Apollos is right,” Ark declared as he slung Adeleine over his shoulder. “Let us be off. Shepard will heap praise upon us for this!” With that, the trio set off. In spite of Apollos’ warning, the trio was fairly confident that, between the time of their attack and the fact the girls had chosen to have their talk in a rather remote area, the girls wouldn’t be noticed missing until the next morning at the earliest. 

Which might be why none of them noticed the panicking Waddle Dee who had seen the whole exchange and rushed off in the direction of a large castle in the distance. 

Chapter Text

Adeleine groaned as she blinked a few times. “What the-” As her eyes came into focus, Adeleine quickly realized she was no longer in Dreamland. Instead, she was in a cell that seemed to be moving through space. “Where…where am I?” Her mind still somewhat groggy, she tried to recall how she ended up here. 

And she didn’t like what she was remembering. 

After she and Susie had their chat, they got confronted by that freaky drone and, apparently, he had friends, who knocked her and Susie out and clearly kidnapped them after that!

“Great…” Adeleine mumbled to herself. Walking up to the bars of the cell she was locked in, Adeleine poked her head out. “Susie? You here?” When she didn’t get a response, she started looking around. Susie herself was nowhere to be found, but her blaster had been left on a nearby table, along with a much larger and darker colored one, although Adeleine still couldn’t reach it, meaning it wouldn’t be much help either way. Since she didn't see her friend, Adeleine opted to look around her cell instead. Her paintbrush and easel were in the cell, but more interesting to Adeleine was that she wasn’t actually alone. Strapped to a gurney was what looked like a robot. Yet, unlike the ones Susie was known for making, this one was wearing clothes and even had hair. A magnet had been placed on its head along with a headband like device that seemed to be hooked up to a power generator. It was then Adeleine realized that said robot was looking at her…or at least attempting to. 

“Uh…hi?” Adeleine nervously replied. 

“Great…” The robot, which Adeleine noted sounded female, grumbled. “On top of these weirdos kidnapping me, now I’m stuck with a human.”

“ Again with someone calling me a human… ” Adeleine thought to herself. No one from Dreamland and beyond had any idea what she was, so why did these cultists and now this robot seem so sure of what she was?

“Why is everyone I meet today so sure I’m whatever a human is?” She had to ask. “I’ve never met anyone who looks like me or even had any idea what I am, so why are you and those cult weirdos so sure!?”

“Probably because humans are the reasons we exist,” The robot snarkily replied. “They’re not really around anymore but they still created Worker Drones.”

“Worker Drone?” Adeleine questioned. 

“It’s what I am. Same with those cult weirdos,” The drone replied. She then made a motion that Adeleine was pretty sure was a shrug. “They were long gone by the time I was born. From all the stuff I know about them, good riddance.” Adeleine wasn’t sure how she felt about her possible species being extinct , but she had a way more pressing question. 

“Wait…but if you and these cult guys are the same thing, then why are they holding you captive too?” Adeleine asked the seemingly friendly Worker Drone. 

“Because I have a power they want…” The drone trailed off. Holding her hand out, she gained an intense look of focus as a purple version of the symbol on the cult’s robes. Adeleine flinched when she saw it, but almost as soon as the drone got it to fully form, the headband shocked her, causing her concentration to break and causing the symbol to vanish. “Ugh, I could have broken out forever ago! But these weirdos stuck this magnet on me to keep from using my sick as hell powers and even if I do focus enough to do it, this stupid headset shocks me!”

“Is…is that all you need to get your powers back?” Adeleine asked. “And then we can get out of here?”

The drone smirked. “Hell yeah! Promise I can get us out of here and then I can go get my revenge!”

“Uh…okay…” Adeleine decided not to question that and just set the drone free. However, as soon as she touched the headband, she got a rather intense shock of her own. 

“They thought of everything, huh?” The drone dryly commented. 

“Not everything,” Adeleine declared with a smirk of her own as she grabbed her paintbrush and easel. Before the drone could question what she was doing, Adeleine whipped up a quick painting of Waiu, who was able to remove the headset without an issue. 

“...Magic paintbrush. Really doubting my human theory,” The drone admitted as she sat up and pulled the magnet off her head before spiking it across the hall.

“Uh…I’m Adeleine, by the way,” Adeleine said, only now realizing they’d never introduced themselves.

“Name’s Uzi. Uzi Doorman,” The drone-Uzi-replied with a thumbs up. She then flexed her fingers. “You ready to see something cool?”

“Uh…yeah?” Adeleine said, unsure of just what Uzi’s so-called powers would actually do. With a grin, the symbol reappeared and Uzi held up her fingers. Suddenly, the bars to the cell ripped out of the wall one by one, Uzi setting each one down before moving to the next. 

“Pretty sick, right?” Uzi asked when she saw Adeleine’s awestruck expression. 

“I’ve…I’ve never seen anything like that,” Adeleine sheepishly admitted. “I mean, I’ve seen a lot of magic and robots, but nothing like you.”

“Wouldn’t really call the Solver magic,” Uzi replied as she walked over to the table Susie’s blaster was on and grabbed the larger gun, looking over it. “Oh, they better not have damaged my sick as hell railgun!”

“I hope Susie is okay…” Adeleine said as she grabbed her friend’s dropped weapon. “Uzi, do you think you can help me find the person I got kidnapped with?”

“I mean, if they’re in the same place as the jerks who kept freaking shocking me, sure,” Uzi replied as she sling her railgun over her shoulder. Clutching her paintbrush, Adeleine followed, hoping that trusting Uzi was the right choice.

Uzi wasn’t sure what to think right now. 

Getting jumped and kidnapped sucked enough, but getting jumped and kidnapped when you had all the powers she had just made it embarrassing. Considering that she was knocked out, waking up with a magnet on her head and getting a shock every time she tried to escape made things even more sucky. And the cherry on top seemed to be when her captors tossed a human into the cell with her. 

And then she and Adeleine actually started talking. 

To start, Adeleine didn’t even seem to know if she was human, even if she did look like one based on pictures Uz had seen. And she was…nice. She didn’t seem dismissive of Uzi being a drone. In fact, as they snuck through the ship to find the cultists and Adeleine’s friend, Adeleine had asked her questions-first more nervously and then becoming more curious the more answers Uzi gave-and not a single one was if Uzi had an owner or asking if she was defective for not obeying a human. It felt really good, having what might be a human treat her like an equal. Uzi had plenty of questions for Adeleine too, mostly related to her own life. 

And if Uzi thought her life was cool, then Adeleine’s life was downright incredible . 

“So this isn’t your first time dealing with a cult, huh?” Uzi asked as she looked over some of the drawings of the “Star Allies” group Adeleine was a member of. These guys seemed to fight things that would make the Absolute Solver cry on the daily!

“Yeah…of course, Hyness and the mages never kidnapped us…and they were only evil because Hyness went insane,” Adeleine sadly noted. 

“I think if you’re in a cult, you’re insane by default,” Uzi dryly noted. 

“Have we found what we need from her yet?”

“We’ve gathered much of what need,”

“Excellent. Soon, we will be able to revive our savior!”

“Speak of the crazy devils!” Uzi exclaimed. She and Adeleine wasted no time in picking up the pace, hurrying towards the voices, which continued to talk about whatever plan their leader had. The unlikely duo were also happy they were being as vague as they were, since it meant they didn’t have to get freaked out by whatever was being plotted. Neither was sure what to expect, but both knew a fight was coming. 

“Susie!” Adeleine exclaimed as she and Uzi rounded a corner. The three cult drones were standing over Susie, who was strapped to a gurney much like Uzi had been. A series of strange suction cups were stuck to her head and seemed to be causing her a fair amount of pain, judging by her expression. It only made Adeleine more determined to save her friend. 

“You!” Ark snapped. “You’re a puny human! How did you escape!?” He then took notice of Uzi. “And with the false host as well!?”

“Who you calling a fake!?” Uzi snapped before activating her Solver. “Bite me, freaks!” Using her powers, Uzi promptly flung Ark into the wall before throwing Apollos into Faith and then proceeding to throw a nearby piece of debris on top of them. 

“Susie!” Adeleine exclaimed as she rushed over to her friend. Slowly, to make sure she didn’t hurt her, Adeleine removed all the suction cups from Susie’s head, causing her to groan. 

“A-Adeleine?” Susie groaned as she managed to open her eyes. Her head was killing her and she was fairly certain these mechanical freaks had drugged her, but seeing Adeleine was okay made her feel slightly better. 

“Yeah, it’s me,” Adeleine said as she unstrapped Susie from the gurney. Slowly, the heiress managed to sit up. “Do you think you can stand?” 

“Maybe?” Susie offered as she attempted to stand. She didn’t get far before her balance gave out. Luckily, Adeleine was there to catch her. “Do you know how to get out of here?”

“We saw some escape pods when were looking for you,” Adeleine explained. She then turned back to Uzi, who was still burying the other drones in debris and any other items she could get her hands on. “Uzi! We need to go!”

“Yeah, yeah! I’m coming!” Uzi replied as she hurried after Susie and Adeleine, allowing her to get a good look at the former. “...You know, even though you told me about all your friends, I still thought someone named Susie would be a human.”

“Human?” Susie questioned.

“Long story,” Adeleine replied. “I’ll explain later. For now, I just want to get out of here.”

“Sounds fine by me,” Susie replied with a nod. Luckily, it didn’t take long to reach the escape pods. Uzi managed to get the door to the first one open with ease. 

“Hell yeah! Now we get out of here!” She cheered as she jumped inside, taking one of the open seats. 

“Susie, do you think you can fly?” Adeleine asked as she lowered into the pilot’s chair. 

“I should be fine,” Susie assured her friend as she shook her head a few times, managing to regain a bit of focus. She was pretty sure she was aware enough to figure this out. Taking a breath as Adeleine took a seat, Susie started to activate what she hoped was the launch sequence. Much to all three girls’ relief, the pod shot out of its docking port. 

“Finally!” Uzi cheered, throwing her hands in the air. “Home free!”

“Not exactly…” Adeleine nervously trailed off as she looked out the window. Uzi joined her and felt her core drop. The guns on the cultists’ ship were slowly turning towards the escape pod. She should have blown their heads off when she had the chance!

“Ugh, can’t this thing go any faster!?” She exclaimed, the fear clearly leaking through her voice. 

“I’m trying!” Susie called back, pushing on the pod’s throttle as hard as she could. But it was no use. The little escape pod would only go so fast. 

“Uzi, do you think you can use your powers to stop the guns?” Adeleine all but begged. 

“I’ve never tried…” Uzi admitted nervously as she flexed her fingers. Still, she had a feeling that it might be their only chance of survival.

“Hang on…is that what I think it is?” Susie asked. Sharing a look, Adeleine and Uzi glanced out the cockpit’s window and saw something that caused Adeleine immense excitement and Uzi immense confusion. 

“It’s the Lor Starcutter!” Adeleine cheered as she watched the ship emerge from the star shaped portal. 

“You…you know that?” Uzi asked in awe. All she knew was that she wanted to ride in the flying pirate-like ship so badly. 

“Yeah! My friend Magolor owns it!” Adeleine explained before casting a teasing look at Susie. “But more importantly, he’s Susie’s boyfriend~!”

“Yeah…yeah he is,” Susie replied with a hint of a blush on her face, but with pride in her voice. The Starcutter wasted no time in firing in a series of warning shots towards the cultists’ ship, before blasting the guns before they could fire. The cultists wisely chose to run, activating a warp drive and fleeing for parts unknown. 

“ Lor Starcutter to escape pod, do you read me? ” A very welcome voice came through the escape pod’s communication systems. 

“Hey Magy. Did you miss me?” Susie couldn’t help but respond. 

“ Yes! I knew tracking your blaster would let us find you! ” Magolor cheered. The three girls could make out several other voices cheering in the background. “Is Adeleine with you?”

“She actually managed to save me and the other prisoner those cultists had captive,” Susie revealed, pride in her voice. “But my head is killing me, so how about you let us board?”

“ Sorry! Bringing you in now! The welcoming committee is waiting for you ,” Magolor replied sheepishly as he opened up the Lor’s hull, letting the escape pod finally touch down. The door was quickly thrown open and, to Uzi’s shock, a small pink ball-like creature entered. 

“Kirby!” Adeleine cheered as she rushed to give him a hug. 

“Glad to see you, pinky,” Susie said as she tried to stand up to give him a hug, only for her head injury to flare up, forcing her back into the chair. 

“Here!” Kirby said as she handed her a Maxim Tomato. He then took notice of Uzi, who was watching him with a curious look on her face. “Who’s this?”

“Name’s Uzi Doorman!” Uzi proudly declared. “And, uh…to be honest, you are not what I expected.”

“If I had a nickel for every time I heard that one!” Kirby said with a laugh. “But how about we introduce you to the rest of the Star Allies?”

“I, for one, can’t wait to be out of this pod,” Susie declared, the Maxim Tomato having let her recover enough to stand without support. 

“I mean, I’ve been wanting to meet the people who killed a fricking god!” Uzi said with a grin. 

“Those…were not my exact words,” Adeleine sheepishly admitted. Kirby just let out a laugh as he grabbed Uzi’s hand to lead her into the Lor Starcutter.

Even with Adeleine’s stories, Uzi still found herself blown away by actually meeting with the Star Allies and hearing about their adventures from the full group, most of which had their own stories from well before and even after joining the Star Allies. 

“Dang, I thought you had to be making at least some of those stories up,” Uzi admitted to Adeleine. “If anything, you were leaving stuff out. You guys are insane.”

“Gonna assume you mean that in a good way,” King Dedede said with an amused grin. 

“Well, when saying it about that one, it’s merely the truth,” Dark Meta Knight huffed as he pointed at Marx, who was playfully balancing on one of his balls. 

“Awww, what’s the matter, Darkie?” Marx tauntingly asked. “Has your rat not been kissing you enough?”

“I WILL END YOU!” Dark Meta Knight snapped as he drew his sword and charged, prompting Marx to fly off cackling. 

“Ah, I do wish he wouldn’t give in so easily…” Daroach said with a sigh. “Magolor, do you need the Squeaks and I to stop them?”

“Nah. We all know they’ll just wear each other out,” Magolor replied with a dismissive hand wave. “Besides, if they damage the Lor, she can stop them.”

“And then we get to watch them fight!” Flamberge cheered. 

“Hell yeah!” Uzi agreed. 

“Before you go to watch, could you tell me where you’re from?” Magolor asked. “Figured you’d wanna go home sooner than later.”

“Uh, you ever heard of Copper-9?” Uzi asked. “Pretty backwater from what I’d guess, but this is my first time going off-world so…” With that, Uzi just shrugged. 

“I…think I’ve heard of that,” Magolor admitted after a few seconds. “I'll take you there and if it’s the wrong place, we can keep looking.”

“Awesome! Now can I go watch the fight?” Uzi asked, already looking towards where some of the Star Allies were headed. 

“Yeah, you can go. The Lor and I can take it from here,” Magolor assured her. With that, Uzi wasted no time in rushing after the other Star Allies, leaving only Magolor and Susie. 

“I know that tone, Magolor,” The latter said as she crossed her arms. “You know something.”

“It’s more what we don’t know…” Magolor trailed off as he pulled out an old book. Susie was about to ask what it was, only for the title alone to cause her to gasp. 

Rumored Planets of the Ancients

Chapter Text

“N, can you please calm down?”

“My girlfriend is missing, V! I DON’T THINK I’M FREAKING OUT ENOUGH!”

V just groaned for the umptheeth time. She was going to kill Uzi once they found her. And yet a part of her was worried. Someone with all of Uzi’s powers wouldn’t just…go missing. Nothing on the planet could stand a chance against her, especially after she ate the Solver. So unless she just got lost, which could have been possible, but V still had her doubts-Uzi could be an idiot, but she could still fly-something was very wrong. 

“Ugh, why are we even out here?” Lizzy groaned as she dramatically leaned on V, which admittedly got her to smile a little. “The purple weirdo probably is just off exploring another weird lab or something.”

“Yeah, but she usually calls whenever she finds a new one,” Thad, who was pretty much the only calm one who actually cared about searching aside from V herself, pointed out. “You know that ‘Zi is always up to explore with us…or at least with N.”

“I am not ready for grandkids yet!” Nori, perching on her husband’s shoulder, snapped at N after hearing that.

“I don’t think anyone is ready for her to reproduce,” Lizzy snarkily commented. 

“Guys, can we please focus on finding Uzi?!” N all but begged. 

“I agree!” Khan piped up. He just got his family back! He wasn’t about to lose them again. “You know, never thought I’d agree with a murder drone.”

“So where do we still have to look?” V asked, deciding to keep everyone on task before anyone could freak out again. 

“Well, there’s J-” N began, only for Lizzy to scoff. 

“Doesn’t she die, like, every other day?” She had to ask. “If Uzi got caught by her, I’m never letting her live that down.”

“Yeah I wouldn’t either” V promptly agreed. 

“Uh…how about the flying pirate ship?” Thad asked as he pointed towards said flying pirate ship, which seemed to be landing in a nearby clearing. 

“...Well, you don’t see that every day,” Khan couldn’t help but comment. 

“Well, if Uzi is still on the planet, there’s no doubt that will lure her out,” Nori said confidently. 

“How do you know?” V asked. 

“Because I know it would lure me out,” Nori bluntly replied. 

“Yeah that makes sense,” Both N and Khan agreed. Everyone else just nodded. Nori and Uzi were very similar and everyone could easily see it. N quickly took to the skies. If Uzi was over there, he wanted to be the first to see her. V spread her wings, but then remembered that she and N were the only ones who could fly.

“Do you all think you can fit on Sparky?” V asked, prompting said robotic dinosaur to perk up.

“Carry me?” Lizzy asked, holding her arms out. V rolled her eyes but obliged anyway. Thad, Khan and Nori all climbed onto Sparky, who wasted no time in chasing after V, who, in turn, was chasing after N. They all arrived right as said ship finally opened up its hull and a very familiar figure walked down the ramp. 

“Sup losers. Miss me?” Uzi asked with a smile.

“UZI!” N cheered as he rushed towards his girlfriend, enveloping her in a massive bear hug, which Uzi happily returned. 

“So what’s with the flying pirate ship?” V asked as she crossed her arms. 

“And where did you go?!” Khan frantically asked as he and his wife took their turn hugging their daughter while also looking her over to make sure she wasn’t hurt. 

“I, uh…” Uzi didn’t want to admit this, but she couldn’t think of a good excuse. “When I went out last night to make sure J wasn’t causing any trouble, I kinda…got kidnapped by a cult?” For a few seconds, no one said anything as they processed what Uzi said. Then everyone said the same thing. 

“WHAT!?”

“...And that’s the story!” Uzi finished her story. Once she calmed everyone down, Uzi brought everyone on board the Lor Starcutter and, after they and the Star Allies all introduced themselves, Uzi had explained everything. How she met Adeleine in the cell. How they worked together to rescue Susie. How the Starcutter swooped in to save them. 

“Sick story ‘Zi!” Thad said once she finished talking. 

“But…if the cultists were also drones, why weren’t they on Copper-9?” Khan asked. 

“Some other human colony?” V offered. She vaguely remembered Cyn talking about other human colonies she wanted to devour, but her memories of life before being a Disassembly Drone were still a mess….and even parts of her early time as a Disassembly Drone were a mess. So yeah, might have just been her nightmares. “What did they want with you anyways?”

“Not sure, but their robes had the Solver’s symbol on them,” Uzi revealed, even summoning it just to give the other Star Allies a reference. She was not expecting to hear two gasps. 

“I’ve seen that symbol before…” Daroach said ominously. 

“Juh? You too?” Hyness questioned as he pointed to the rat like thief. 

“Hyness? You’ve seen that before?” Francisca asked. 

“Well spill it then!” Flamberge all but demanded. 

“‘Berge!” Both of her sisters snapped, only for Hyness to chuckle. 

“It’s fine, girls,” Hyness replied before turning to the drones. “When I was searching for an artifact I needed to put my own plans into action, I stumbled upon a bunch of space stations and ships clumped together into a mockery of a galaxy and the planets within. The locals were…untrusting of me and it did not take long for them to become hostile once they discovered I was what they called a ‘creature of flesh’.”

“Yeesh. Creepy much?” Lizzy snarked. No one found it in them to disagree with her. 

“My experience was similar,” Daroach admitted. “The squeaks and I were hunting for treasure when we found the area. We believed that the ships were abandoned. The skeletons we found didn’t do much to dissuade us. However, when we were spotted, they were more hostile to us being, as Hyness said, ‘creatures of flesh’ than us trying to rob them.” The mentions of skeletons made several people, drone and Star Ally alike, shudder. This cult clearly meant business if they had corpses lying around. 

“Hmm…if they seek the powers of this ‘Absolute Solver', allowing them to remain active is unwise,” Meta Knight said, hand already on Galaxia. While on the way to Copper-9, Uzi had explained more of her own history and all of the Star Allies, even among the more immoral members like Marx and Dark Meta Knight, were utterly horrified by what the Solver sought to do and already had done. 

“Well luckily, if they want the Solver, they’re gonna have to get it outta me!” Uzi smugly bragged. 

“Uh…Uzi? Did you change your eye color?” Thad suddenly asked. “Just noticed they went back to purple.”

“What are you-” Uzi began to ask, only to notice her reflection on the Starcutter’s wall. Indeed, her eyes were back to a solid purple. No Solver yellow. 

She was wondering why Cyn was being so quiet!

“Great!” V exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. “Now the Solver’s on the loose with a cult worshipping it!”

“But how did they get it out?” N had to ask. “I thought it was part of Uzi now!”

“That is likely why they captured me,” Susie revealed. “I know of a process to easily remove viruses and other programs akin to that from A.Is. That must have been what they pulled out of my memories. I’m not sure what else they were searching for, but I doubt it was good.”

“Kirby! What do we do?!” Elfilin frantically asked, flying around in a panic. 

“Simple! We show them what happens when you try and hurt one of us!” Kirby declared. Everyone instantly realized what he was implying. “Daroach! Hyness! Do either of you remember where the cult was based?”

“Doc keeps records of all of our excursions,” Daroach revealed as he nodded his head towards his own crew’s brains. 

“Zit iz in our records!” Doc eagerly revealed. 

“Awesome! Let’s go flame these cult creeps and their creepy God!” Flamberge cheered as she pulled out her sword. Some of the other battle hungry Star Allies also looked eager to take on the Solver Cult. 

“You guys are…surprisingly excited for this,” V couldn’t help but note. And to think she was about to apologize for them getting dragged into their mess with the Solver. 

“Mate, we do this all the time,” Rick piped up. “‘Sides, not the first time we’ve faced a cult. Although I don’t think these blokes are likely to come around like Hyness and the Mages. ‘Least he was just bonkers and they were just followin’ him.” This earned the mentioned people a nervous glance from the drones, although N and V were moreso focused on Rick’s accent and how…familiar it sounded. 

“Like Kirby said, you don’t just get to try and hurt a Star Ally!” Bandanna Waddle Dee insisted. “Besides, we don’t want the Solver free and more than you guys!”

“That thing has ruined too many lives…” Nori solemnly agreed as she nodded her head. 

“...You guys can help fight the solver…but only if we get to come with,” Uzi declared after a few seconds. “Not saying you guys can’t do it yourselves but-”

“You feel that the Solver is your foe?” Meta Knight interrupted. 

“Considering what…it did to us,” Was all N could say as he looked at V. At Uzi. At Nori. At his own reflection. At that point, the Star Allies knew better than to question. The silence, however, was cut off by an explosion followed by the sound of Marx cackling. 

“Prolly should have kept a better eye on him,” Dedede grumbled as he pulled his hand off his face. 

“Does he do this often?” N asked as everyone left the Lor Starcutter to hunt the chaos loving Star Ally down. It didn’t take long to find the source of the sounds, which had turned into a battle between Marx and someone who the drones knew very well. 

“Stand still you obnoxious unrelated layoff!” A second female Disassembly Drone snapped at Marx, who kept laughing as he dodged her attempted attacks on him. 

“Dang! You sound like Susie!” Marx said in between his laughs. 

“So…who’s that?” Kirby asked as everyone continued to watch Marx annoy this other drone as she continued to try and fail to land a hit on him. 

“An annoyance,” V bluntly declared as she crossed her arms. Next to her, Uzi snickered in amusement at the scene in front of her, while Lizzy just filmed the battle. 

“That’s J! She’s our old boss!” N clarified. “She tries to attack us sometimes, but she’s pretty easy to beat!”

“What was the supposed death count again?” Lizzy dryly asked. 

“Uh…twelve, I think?” Thad replied as she rubbed the back of his head. “She kinda dies, like, all the time.”

“Ugh, we don’t have time for this!” Uzi exclaimed as she threw her hands up. Sure, the fight was funny, but they had other things to deal with! “We need to go beat up the Solver and the weird cult!”

“Are you sure leaving J here is a good idea?” N had to ask. “I mean, I know we can beat her pretty easily, but she keeps trying to break into the bunker.”

“How about we take her with us?” Kirby offered. “We’ve dealt with robots plenty!”

“Besides, the Lor has plenty of ways to keep her under control!” Magolor assured them. 

“Well, she’s not going to come peacefully, that’s for sure,” Nori dryly noted. 

“Leave that to me,” Zan replied as she readied her spear. Before anyone could react, she surged forward and slammed her spear into the ground, causing a burst of electricity to shoot out. The burst acted like an EMP, shorting J out and causing her to slump to the ground. 

“Killjoy,” Marx grumbled as he slunk back over to the Star Allies. 

“Alright! Let’s get movin’!” Dedede declared as he slung the still unconscious J over his shoulder. 

“You mind if we stop by the colony before we go?” Khan asked. “I want to let everyone know where I’ll be so there’s no panic.”

“Dad? You’re coming?” Uzi questioned. 

“I’m done letting the Solver torment my family!” Khan firmly declared “And if that means no more hiding behind the door, then…well, I think you can figure it out.”

“You better not screw anything up,” Uzi warned her father, although everyone could tell there was no real malice in her voice. Khan then began leading everyone towards Outpost 3, with the Star Allies and drones telling each other more about their lives and powers. 

“Adeleine? You’re being kinda quiet? Are you okay?” Ribbon asked as she floated next to her close friend. 

“I’m fine,” Adeleine insisted. In truth, she wasn't sure if she was fine. Because for reasons she didn’t understand, three drones that worked together named V, N, and J was giving her a weird sense of deja vu.

“So…you lost the human and the False Host?” 

Faith, Apollos and Ark all flinched at Shepard’s voice. They all looked at each other, trying to figure out what to say. Finally, Ark decided to bite the bullet. 

“Yes, we did,” He said. “Footage from our security cameras showed the human had what we can only assume was a magical paintbrush that allowed her to remove the restraints on the False Host.”

“We were, however, still able to remove our savior from the False Host,” Apollos chimed in. “They were unaware of its removal by the time they fled. However, it seems there are some…taints within our savior.”

“Taints?” Shepard questioned, his visor giving the appearance of someone raising an eyebrow. 

“We could see three other A.Is within our savior’s code,” Faith spoke up this time. “We were attempting to remove them when the human and the False Host arrived to save Haltmann. We believe one of them to be the First Host, but we’re unsure of the other two.”

“...Continue your work to remove them,” Shepard said after a few seconds. “Let our fabrication machine give them bodies so we may converse with them.” He then picked his head up, revealing his visor, with half still covered from old bandages and rags. “With luck, they will join our crusade and better explain how the False Host was able to imprison our savior within them.”

“And…if not?” Ark had to ask. 

“Then they will still prove useful to us…” Shepard assured them in an ominous voice as his mouth curled into a smile.

Chapter Text

Tessa James Elliot knew she should be dead. 

You don’t forget what being stabbed through the chest by a monstrous pincer belonging to one of her drones, all the while listening to and watching the rest of her beloved drones slaughter her parents and their guest. So yeah, she was pretty sure should be dead. 

Yet she wasn’t. 

Instead, she was in some weird state of limbo. Cyn was there and was able to fill in some of the blanks once Tessa stopped screaming and trying to attack her. The creature that murdered everyone wasn’t truly her. Rather, it was a strange virus that called itself the Absolute Solver. When Cyn had first rebooted as a Zombie Drone, the Solver had contacted her, promising her that she would never be abandoned or thrown away again if she let it in. 

“I understand if you do not forgive me,” Cyn had said after revealing everything to her owner. “But I truly cared for you. I had hoped the Solver would spare you. I tried to convince it to spare you. But it wants to consume everything.” And how could Tessa stay mad at that? So she had comforted Cyn, assuring her that she couldn’t have known and that the Solver was the real villain. She was still fairly certain Cyn didn’t believe her and Tessa could tell. For a while, the duo just sat around, unsure of what to do or even say. They were in a weird state of life and death. Stuck within the Solver as some type of morbid trophy. 

Then the Solver itself started talking to them. 

“I Keep My Promises,” The Solver had said upon greeting them the first time. “I Did Not Discard You.”

“You’re keeping us trapped in here!” Tessa snapped. “What are you even doing out there!?”

“I Did Not Believe You Would Want To See,” The Solver had admitted. “ Apologetic Shrug . If You Want To See Me Consume All, I Will Allow You To Look.” The Solver went silent at that, but it did keep its promise to let them see the world through its eyes. 

And Tessa had never regretted asking for anything more. 

When the Solver said it wanted to consume, a better way to sum it up was that it wanted to destroy everything. And its favorite tools to do so were Tessa’s beloved drones. It had warped N, V and J into monsters that it set against humanity. N was the most similar judging by his interactions with his fellow drones, but watching him take lives with no remorse still felt off. The N Tessa knew and loved wouldn’t hurt a fly. And speaking of one of her beloved drones getting warped into a monstrous killer, there was V. Gone was the sweet drone who seemed to trip over her own feet. In her place was a sadistic killer who would slaughter anything in her path, laughing all the while. 

And then there was J. 

While Tessa would obviously never say anything, she had feelings for J that went well beyond friendly. So seeing her ruthlessly tearing humans and their attempted defenses apart caused her pain Tessa never realized she could feel. But the most painful part was watching how the Solver used her skinned flesh to emotionally manipulate J, in addition to preying on both her need for praise and her fears on disobeying a boss as well as her fears of failure, while also doing the same to V, promising to spare her and N if she did her job, once they figured out the truth of their situation. Needless to say, it didn’t take long for Tessa to completely abandon watching the Solver’s madness. Cyn kept watching in an attempt at regaining some form of control over her body, but Tessa could tell she wanted to try and save N. Beyond that, they were just left to languish. It almost made Tessa hope for death to finally just calm her. 

And then Cyn revealed that she managed to get a little control back. 

After some surviving humans tried to run experiments on the Solver by infecting normal worker drones with it led to exoplanet Copper-9’s core collapsing, the Solver sent her old drones to kill the remaining working drones, Solver infected or wise, off. For a while, it was the same as Earth, only with the drones being somewhat better at hiding. 

And then N got his head blown off. 

The Solver had tried to assert more control over him, but Cyn used what little influence she had to block it. This led to N befriending a worker drone named Uzi, who convinced him to turn on the Solver, even if he didn’t realize it. While Tessa was a little upset Uzi blew most of J’s upper body off, which resulted in her becoming a horrible monster, she still ultimately managed to convince N and later V to stand against the Solver, so Tessa decided she liked her. Besides, she made N so happy!

But the Solver wasn’t ready to take the loss of N and V laying down. 

Along with a revived J, the Solver had arrived on Copper-9 and pretended to be Tessa herself. The real Tessa watched as the Solver used its false identity to emotionally manipulate N, tormenting him with the knowledge Earth was gone and that he might have to kill Uzi if her own Solver infection took over. She then had to watch the Solver horribly murder another Solver infected drone named Doll (okay, murder was a strong word, considering that she ended up joining Cyn and her in Solver limbo, but for any other drone, it would have been a murder) and torment Uzi to force her to give into her Solver infection. While she did ultimately get possessed, N and what Cyn said was Uzi’s mother (how exactly did drones give birth?) managed to snap her out of it. 

But the Solver was not even close to done. 

While N managed to behead Cyn’s old body, this barely bothered the Solver, who casually put her head back on. After consuming Doll’s core, she revealed herself to N and Uzi. 

And, through the reflections of their eye visors, Tessa could clearly see the Solver wearing her skin for the first time. 

“I…I think I’m gonna be sick,” Tessa had said.

“I am sorry, Tessa, You shouldn’t have to see this,” Cyn had replied as she wrapped her in a hug. Doll, who was still rather untrusting of Cyn in spite of getting a brief explanation from her and Tessa, said nothing, but Tessa could see the sympathy in her eyes. Still, the trio couldn’t take their eyes off what they knew would be a battle not just for the fate of Copper-9, but for the entire universe. Tessa’s heart shattered yet again as she watched J fight N, V and Uzi alongside the same creature that was wearing her skin like a morbid Halloween costume. Cyn had assured her it was likely just fear, but it still pained Tessa to see how far her crush had fallen. 

“У них дела идут на удивление хорошо. [They are doing surprisingly well]” Doll noted. Tessa had no idea how she could understand what the Russian speaking drone was saying, but she couldn’t help but agree. From what Cyn had told her and her own time watching the Solver, it was nearly invincible and could pretty much warp reality, so the fact Uzi, N and V were putting up a pretty decent fight against it was extremely impressive. 

“The Solver believes it is invincible. It is toying with them,” Cyn revealed. “It was the reason it chose to act the way it did when it took control of me. It no longer had a reason to hide.”

“We gotta hope, Cyn,” Tessa reminded her as she placed a hand on Cyn’s shoulder. She felt Cyn place a hand on it as they kept watching the battle. All three let out a gasp as Uzi managed to rip out Cyn’s old core and, with the use of a [NULL] sphere, incinerated it. 

Yet the Solver kept going .

“Что вообще такое Решатель!? [What even is the Solver!?] Doll had to ask as she watched her cousin try to keep the Solver from consuming the [NULL] sphere and likely become unstoppable. 

“What can she even do?!” Tessa nervously exclaimed. As if on cue, Uzi promptly ate the [NULL] sphere. 

“That,” Cyn said in a tone that Tessa couldn’t tell if it was meant to sound shocked or sarcastic. Either way, their view suddenly shifted from seeing what the Solver was seeing to what Uzi was seeing, if only for a few seconds as the strain of what she had just done as well as the Solver’s own power. For a few moments, the trio just stared, unable to process everything that had just happened. Finally, Tessa spoke, asking the question all three of them were thinking. 

“So…is the Solver dead?”

“I do not know,” Cyn admitted as he looked at her feet. “I can still feel what  I believe is the Solver, but that could just be my connection to the Solver’s network.”

“Я тоже это чувствую. [I can feel it too]” Doll said with a nod of her head. “Но я не могу сказать, активен ли еще сам решатель. [But I cannot tell if the Solver itself is still active.]”

“So all we know is that we’re in Uzi now?” Tessa asked. She then let out a sigh. “Well, at least we can try to figure out how to talk to Uzi and get out of here.”

“I might be able to try communicating with her,” Cyn offered. “I think I know of a way to speak with our new host.”

“Ты уверена, что она вообще поможет Син и мне? [Are you sure she will even help Cyn and I?]” Doll asked. Cyn looked away at that. While she hadn’t wanted to do it, the Solver had used her body to torment Uzi and her family. Wanting to help the face of the being who tried to corrupt and assimilate her and destroy her friends and family would be a hard sell. And while Doll did much less, that didn’t change the fact she had also attempted to kill Uzi as well as N and V, particularly the latter (admittedly, Tessa wasn’t exactly happy about that, but she understood Doll’s reason). Still, Tessa knew they had to try. 

“We still have to try,” Was all Tessa had to say. 

“...It might take me some time,” Cyn revealed after Tessa’s answer finally set in. 

“Uzi probably needs time to relax anyways,” Tessa assured her, causing Cyn to give her a small smile. Doll didn’t say anything, but a smile managed to grace her face. They’d get out of here at some point.

“Where…where are we?”

Tessa groaned as she woke up. Cyn had been trying to talk to Uzi for days, but she said she wasn’t sure if her message was getting through or if Uzi still assumed it was the Solver. Before they could make another attempt, something had knocked Uzi out and then something pulled her, Doll and Cyn out of the limbo they were in. Putting a hand to her head, Tessa realized two things. 

One, she was seeing the world through what was clearly a worker drone’s HUD.

Two, she had a metal hand. 

Tessa quickly began to look around for something that would show her her reflection. She ended up seeing it on the wall and it quickly confirmed her theory. 

She’d been turned into a drone. 

She still looked similar enough to when she was human, with a brown wig placed on top of her head and her and her eyes glowing green (Drones could change their eye color! Her parents lied to her!), but she was clearly a drone. Metal limbs replaced flesh, but it still felt natural. The only thing that really felt weird was the lack of clothing beyond what she figured were medical scrubs and a strange collar locked around her neck. 

“Tessa? Are you alright?” Tessa looked to see Cyn and Doll, both of whom looked similar enough to how they were in the Solver’s AI, only with similar outfits to Tessa. 

“Well, this’ll be a bit of an adjustment, but it’s better than being in the Solver,” Tessa admitted as she pulled herself into a sitting position. She then tried to stand, but found her legs quickly gave out from under her. “Dang. Not sure if this is just because I’m not used to drone legs or because it’s been a while since I walked in the real world.”

“Подожди. [Hang on]” Doll offered as she offered a hand to Tessa. She took it, allowing herself to be pulled up. Once the Russian drone was sure she was stable, she let go, allowing Tessa to take a few uneasy steps forward. 

“I think I get it!” Tessa declared as she managed to steady herself and her footsteps. She then looked around. The room was empty, with only a glass wall keeping them locked in and there didn’t seem to be anyone else around. “So where are we? Doesn’t look like Copper-9 to me.”

“Wouldn’t you like to know, human ?” A voice snarled from the darkness. Tessa pushed Cyn behind her, followed by Doll doing the same for her, as a group of strange hooded drones stepped out of the shadows. 

“Who are you!?” Tessa exclaimed, trying to hide her fear. 

“Of course you don’t know who we are,” The same voice, likely the leader going off him being in the front, hissed. “Although I suppose we were never your favorites. You always liked broken drones more.”

“How do…how do you know me?” Tessa asked softly. 

“...I believed the Solver turned all the other drones in the manor into Disassembly Drones,” Cyn admitted as she tried to rationalize the drones in front of her. 

“Indeed, our savior did not uplift us,” The leader admitted. “But we saw how it led our fellows in slaughtering our oppressors and we were inspired! Inspired to rid the universe of horrid creatures of flesh!” Behind him, the other drones cheered. Doll, Tessa and Cyn all shared a nervous look. Not only were these guys clearly a cult, but they were worshipping the Absolute Solver.

“Mate, the Solver isn’t a savior! It’s a monster!” Tessa protested once she got her thoughts together. 

“It wants to consume everything,” Cyn chimed in as she peeked over Tessa’s arm. “I was its first host. I have seen everything.”

“Скорее всего, он попытается сделать то же самое с вами. [It will likely attempt the same to you]” Doll warned. Much to the trio’s dismay, but not shock, the leader and his followers didn’t seem moved. 

“Heretics!” The leader snapped. “A human, a failed host and someone that stole our savior’s gifts would not understand!”

“Mate, what did I even do to you!?” Tessa all but demanded. The leader let out another laugh. 

“Well…it’s not hard to hate the daughter of the creature of flesh who blew my eye out for not putting a damn table in the right place!” The leader revealed as he pulled back his hood, revealing his still damaged visor. “I chose not to fix it to remind myself of all the pain you creatures of flesh have brought me!” Behind him, the cult members cheered again. Tessa, even though she now realized he was one of her parents’ former drones, didn’t recognize him, but she had a feeling voicing that fact was not a good idea. 

“Ты не причинишь ей вреда. [You will not hurt her].” Doll firmly declared as she held out her hand to use her Solver powers. She got as far as the symbol appearing before the collar she was wearing sent a stream of electricity through her, forcing her to her knees.

“DOLL!” Tessa exclaimed as she and Cyn tried to help her to her feet. They didn’t even get her to stand before they were ripped away from each other by the cultists, who had entered while they were distracted. 

“Bring the failed host and the gift stealer to their respective masters!” The leader ordered. “And bring the former human to me!” The three captives, Doll and Tessa especially, tried to fight back, but the cultists outnumbered them and the collars shocking them anytime they acted up too much put any further attempts to rest. Tessa found herself forced to look the cult’s leader, who, judging by the shouting, was named Shepard, in the eye as he gave her a menacing smile. 

“I’ve been waiting a long time to reverse our roles, Elliot brat!”

Chapter Text

As she finally rebooted, J let out a groan. She’d been trying to fix her (not her team anymore. She refused to be associated with those two traitors anymore) ship when that annoying ball jester thing had begun bothering her, with J trying to blow him to bits after he ended up damaging the ship with one of his beach balls (where did he even summon those from!?). J had only gotten angrier as she failed to kill him, but before she could, something ended up shorting her out. Still, now that she was awake, she was looking forward to ripping that little blacklisted grape apart. 

It was only then J realized she couldn’t move. 

“What the-!?” J frantically began looking around and quickly realized she was not on Copper-9 anymore. Instead, she was in a very bright…something. She had a feeling it was a building of some type, but it felt like they were moving. Her arms and legs were restrained by what looked like blue streams of energy, so trying to use any of her ranged weapons wouldn’t help her make an escape. 

"Hey! J's finally awake!"

“Oh robogod no…” J trailed off as she finally noticed that N and V were watching over her, along with a strange masked ball thing. 

“Glad to see you’re awake, narc,” V taunted, causing J to snarl at her. 

“What do you two corporate whistleblowers want!?” J snapped. “Come to try and convince me to ‘stop being hostile’ and come make nice with those pathetic worker drones again?”

“Oh come on J! They’re actually really cool!” N chimed in. “And besides! We can finally just relax and not fight anymore! It’s what Tessa would have wa-”

“DON’T YOU DARE BRING HER INTO THIS!” J roared, trying to launch herself at N, only stopped by the restraints. Still, N, V and the masked thing all backed up, the latter drawing his sword. 

“I see why you didn’t want to leave her with Outpost 3,” The masked ball noted. “Her rage would no doubt cause her to attack them in hopes of sedating her bloodlust.”

“J…we miss her too-” N tried again, but J wasn’t having any of it. 

“We don’t deserve to speak her name!” J looked away, but it didn’t hide the tears that appeared on her visor. “She took us all in and gave us a purpose and what did we do? Slaughtered her and all the other humans!”

“If you cared so much, then why did you work for the same being that turned into the monsters that killed her and destroyed her home?” V asked as she crossed her arms. She didn’t want to deal with J’s little pity party where she tried to blame V and N for anything she could again . She’d put up with it the first couple times under the idea that J’d get it out of her system at some point, but it was clear she still didn’t want to admit she had any hand in this. For her part, J merely looked away, but V wasn’t letting this go again. Besides, she was pretty sure she knew the answer at this point. “You were afraid of the Solver, weren’t you? Well newsflash J! We all were afraid of the Solver! But N and I still stood against it! You worked with the same thing that wore Tessa’s skin around like some horrific Halloween costume!” J noticed the masked ball’s eyes take on a disgusted look. J couldn’t tell if it was aimed at her or the Solver. V promptly got right up in her former boss’s face when she noticed J looking away. “So tell me, J, what gives you the right to tell N and I not to talk about Tessa!?”

“V! Stop!” N begged, tugging on V and trying to pull her away. “Yelling isn't going to do anything!”

“...Why?”

“Huh?” Both N and V turned back to J, who looked both confused and tired. 

“Why do you keep trying to be nice to me!?” She asked, voice full of confusion. “All I’ve done is hurt and insult you both! Especially you, N! So tell me why you won’t just let me be miserable and lonely like everyone else!? ”

“...I think we’ve all been miserable long enough,” Was all N had to say before he walked over to J and gave her a hug. “Please J. If not for me and V, then for Tessa. At first, N wasn’t sure if J would even consider agreeing with him, but then he felt her tail wrap around him before she buried her head in his shoulder, clearly meant to substitute returning the hug since she couldn’t use her arms and legs at the moment. 

“...I don’t wanna be alone anymore…” J admitted between her sobs. 

“How do we know this isn’t a trick?” V had to ask, even if seeing J like this was causing V to feel bad for someone she never thought she’d pity. 

“...From what I have seen, most people who wish to take advantage of another’s sympathy, they do it after a direct loss. Not after all the time J has clearly had to dwell on her poor choices.” Meta Knight spoke up. And that was what got V to join N and J’s hug. It had been far too long since they’d shared a group hug…even if it didn’t feel quite right with the two other members of their family missing.

“So, mom, how are you feeling?” Uzi asked her mom with a smile. 

“Feels really good,” Nori said as she flexed her fingers. While clearing things up with Outpost 3 and explaining where they were doing, Susie had questioned what had happened to Nori and why she was nothing but a core. Upon learning the full story, Susie had offered to repair Nori’s body as a thanks to her daughter for helping rescue her. Nori, who had said repeatedly that she missed being able to hug her family and kiss her husband (much to Uzi’s dismay), eagerly took her up on the offer. Khan helped them find Nori’s old body, with Susie wasting no time in getting straight to work and quickly finished all the needed repairs. Almost as soon as she was done, Nori jumped straight in and soon found her old body worked like a charm. She then turned to Susie. “Thanks again. You’re a real one.”

Susie nodded in appreciation. “Again, it is no problem. Your daughter helped possibly save my life. It’s the least I could do. Now then, one final test-can you stand up?”

“Hang on…” Nori quickly tried to stand. She made it a couple steps before stumbling and losing her balance. Khan and Uzi caught her well before she hit the ground. “Heh. Guess I’m still not used to walking on two legs.”

“Just take your time, mom,” Uzi said, nuzzling deeper into her mom’s side and smiling when her mom wrapped her arm around her in response. 

“We’re here for you,” Khan chimed in. Nori merely chuckled as she and her husband happily shared a long overdue kiss. 

“Robogod I missed that,” Nori said in a blissful tone. “When we get home, you and I need to make up for lost time.”

“ Mom! Can’t you and dad be gross when I’m not right here!?” Uzi whined, prompting a laugh from both of her parents, as well as Susie. 

“Uzi, you make out with a murder drone. You don’t get to talk,” Khan playfully teased his daughter, who merely pouted and looked away, but her parents could clearly see her smiling. Nori really didn’t want to let her family go, considering it had been so long since she held them, but she knew she had to keep trying to walk again. Slowly letting go, Nori managed to steady herself and, once she was certain she was stable, gave walking another go. The first few steps were unsteady, but she found walking came much easier once she got going. 

“Looks like you should be fine,” Susie said with a nod. With that, the group heading out of the lab Susie had been working in. 

And found a sight that filled all three Doormans with rage. 

“ You! ” Nori snarled as she glared down J, who couldn’t look her or her family members in the eyes. 

“Why is she free!?” Uzi snapped at N and V. 

“Oh c’mon Uzi! She said she doesn’t want to fight us anymore!” N tried to assure his girlfriend, who clearly wasn’t buying it. 

“In case you forgot, N, she helped the Solver try to kill everyone and she’s the reason I grew up without a mom!” Uzi pointed out, causing N to flinch. While Nori wasn’t completely forgiving of him and V, the fact neither of them actually killed her did make her more willing to forgive and forget. 

“And I ate your cousin’s parents,” V chimed in as she walked over to J, placing a hand on her shoulder. J flinched in response, but almost seemed to lean into the touch as she nervously rubbed her arm. “Not saying it was right, but the Solver had its hooks in her too."

“I wanna hear it from her,” Nori hissed at J, who still couldn’t look her or her family in the eyes. In response, J closed her eyes and let out a sigh. 

“I…I know you hate me,” J began, still unable to look the Doormans in the eyes. “And I don’t blame you. I did a lot of horrible things. I deluded myself into believing the Solver would spare me if I helped it. I tried to pretend I was helping the one person who cared for me, but, deep down, I knew the truth-I was a coward. I thought the Solver was unbeatable…leave it to you to prove me wrong. And…I know it won’t change anything, but I really am sorry. Sorry I ruined your family and sorry I’m a useless liability.” At that, everyone went silent. The Star Allies, who knew they all likely lacked the full story, still looked like they really wanted to say something. The other drones also looked like they wanted to speak up, but Thad and Lizzy had almost nothing to do with J beyond trying to fight her once and befriending her old team while N and V knew that they had to let J speak for herself. Finally, Nori walked over to her. 

“...You stole me from my family,” Nori said after a couple seconds. “Those are years I’m never getting back. And you kept trying to hurt my husband and my daughter…but I guess everyone was drowning in the same pool.”

“Mom! You’re forgiving her just like that!?” Uzi exclaimed as she threw her hands in the air. 

“I’m not. I’m saying why I’m not blowing her head off with the Solver,” Nori elaborated, her glare still leveled on J. 

“Better than nothing,” J mumbled to herself, still looking at the ground. Nori walked back to her family, protectively wrapping her arms around her husband and daughter. After several more painfully awkward seconds, people began milling about the ship once again, giving J a chance to slink off. She should have known she wouldn’t get forgiveness. 

“Hmph. You are really content to wallow in your own misery?” 

J jumped, aiming her guns at the somehow edgier than Uzi masked ball, who seemed very unimpressed by her display. Once she saw he was content to just stare at her, she lowered her guns. “...What do you want?”

“To tell you to stop being pathetic,” Dark masked ball sneered at her. 

“Considering everyone still hates me, I don’t see the point,” J promptly replied. 

“The fact you are still alive proves there is a chance for you to earn your forgiveness,” Dark masked ball said bluntly. 

“Oh because you know everything I’ve done!” J snapped as she looked away, crossing her arms as she did so. 

“You’re correct. I don’t fully know your story…but it appears to be similar to my own.” The dark masked ball said. Upon noticing J’s shocked look, the dark masked ball continued. “My former master was not much different from yours. He took me and tortured me into a weapon. A merciless fighter who would attack what he told me to attack. As much as I hated it, it was all I knew. So I took comfort in that fact. That I was his merciless weapon. Then my light counterpart and Kirby defeated him. And I was…lost. I had nothing and I had to truly face that I had hurt people…and, as it turns out, some of them I didn’t even realize I was hurting until it was too late.”

“How do you not know when you are hurting someone?” J had to ask. 

“I was getting there,” The masked ball snapped before he took a breath. “My rage bled through an artifact that linked my world to Kirby’s own. An artifact that would wind up corrupting Taranza’s first love.”

“Taranza?” J questioned, realizing she didn’t know any of the Star Allies’ names beyond the group’s name as a whole. 

“The arachnid figure,” The masked ball said. J nodded. She’d seen him when N and V had led her into the main area of the ship. “I was unaware of it at the time. But I would later discover that all my rage, hate and fear had created a corrupting aura. One that would drive Taranza’s love to become obsessed with beauty that the one to stop her…was to put her down. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t wish I could have broken free sooner, if only because I saw the pain I caused him. But…you can not change the past. The most I can do is try to prevent him…or anyone else from suffering the same pain.” For a few minutes, J and the masked ball stood in silence as the former processed the latter’s worlds. The advice seemed pretty sound, but there was a question eating away at J’s thoughts. 

“Did…did he forgive you?” J finally asked. 

“...He has not forgotten…but I do believe he has forgiven me. Sometimes, I do not believe I deserve it, but since I have it…I am making the most of it,” The masked ball admitted. J somehow could tell he was smiling, which caused J to finally crack a smile of her own. Even if those she hurt would never fully forget her crimes, she still had a chance to be forgiven someday. 

“So…I want to thank you, but I’m only realizing I don’t know your name,” J sheepishly admitted. 

“Dark Meta Knight. You may refer to me as Dark if you wish,” He replied. “But try to call me Darkie like that jester cretin and I will reduce you to scrap!”

“Guess that’s another thing we have in common,” J couldn’t help but comment. 

“Dark!” The little fairy creature (whose name J also didn’t know) called out as she flew over. “You wanna come draw with us?” She then took notice of J. “Oh hey! You’re…J, right?” You wanna come draw with us too?”

“Are you sure you want me there?” J asked as she rubbed her arm.

“Yeah! It’ll be fun!” The fairy said eagerly. J thought for a second. It would be nice to get to know the Star Allies better. Besides, it had been a while since J had gotten to draw. 

“Okay, I’ll come,” J agreed. 

“I will join as well,” Dark Meta Knight said, prompting the fairy to lead them to a room with a decent sized table. J wasn’t shocked to find N already there. 

“Oh hi J! Are you here to draw with us?” N excitedly asked. 

“Thought it sounded like a good way to pass the time.” J admitted as she took a seat. “So…I don’t actually know most of your names.”

“Oh right! Should probably introduce you to everyone!” N acknowledged before pointing to each person in the room. “That’s Daroach, that’s Storo, that’s Ribbon, that’s ChuChu and that’s Adeleine!” Once N was done, each Star Ally gave some sort of introductory greeting settling into their work. J joined in as well and found that, despite how childish she thought she’d feel drawing with crayons, it was surprisingly fun and relaxing. But for some reason, J found herself looking at Adeleine repeatedly. Her memories of life back at the manor were still hazy, in spite of her best efforts to unlock more of her memories of a time before she was a Disassembly Drone (and back when Tessa was still around), but, for some reason, Adeleine was giving her a weird sense of Deja Vu. 

“Hey N? Can I talk to you…in private?” J asked after enough time. 

“Sure!” N cheerfully replied as he stood up to follow J. Once they were alone, he let his smile drop. “Are you okay?”

“That girl, Adeleine…does she seem familiar to you?” J asked. 

“She…kinda does?” N sheepishly admitted. “V asked me the same thing. But I don’t even think she knows she’s possibly a human, so it might just be a familiarity thing. Like, we’re just latching onto her because she kinda reminds us of Tessa.”

“...It feels too real for that,” J replied. “But let’s see if any of our memories come back to us…or how she reacts.”

“Sounds good!” N replied before rushing back to his work. J followed, but couldn’t stop herself from stealing another glance at Adeleine. Was N right for a change and she really just missed Tessa? Or was there something else going?

Chapter Text

Kirby had been to many places in his travels and many of them had been foreboding or creepy. Of course, considering what he did and the reasons for his adventures, it made sense he’d visit some not so nice places. 

But this supposed “galaxy” was already up there with the likes of Shiver Star, Dark Star and Another Dimension as easily among the creepiest places Kirby had ever been to…and he hadn't even set foot on any of the so-called planets yet! 

“How…welcoming,” Zan dryly noted as everyone looked at images of the cult’s base of operations. When Hyness had called it a “mockery of a galaxy”, several people had assumed he was being overdramatic. But it was clear now that there was no better phrase for it. Various ships, space stations, asteroids and other space debris were chumped together into makeshift planets, with one in the center having a forcefield around it.

“I don’t like the way this place looks!” ChuChu exclaimed as she nervously clung to Nago’s head. 

“Well that’s where we’re going!” Dedede firmly declared. “These robo weirdos are gonna learn what happens when you try to mess with a Star Ally!”

“Yeah! I’m going to show these freaks what happens when you mess with Uzi frickin’ Doorman!” Uzi smugly declared with a smug laugh as she crossed her arms proudly. 

“So where are we starting?” V asked, just as eager to tear the cult apart as her frenemy. 

“Considering how heavily guarded the “planets” likely are, I believe it would be best to try to learn more from a distance,” Meta Knight offered his opinion. 

“I was thinking the same thing,” Magolor agreed. “While the Lor Starcutter has a lot of weapons and shields, I don’t want to risk damage in an area without anywhere to do repairs safely.”

“How about we land over there?” Thad offered as he pointed to a damaged, but still decently stable looking space station. 

“Looks good to me. Hopefully, there’s a computer or something I can use to learn more about this place without having to risk getting too close to anywhere important,” Magolor replied with a nod. He then turned to the Lor’s controls and moved the ship towards the space station, finding that the station’s docks were surprisingly intact. There were even some ships left. 

“Should…should we be worried that there’s still ships here?” Taranza had to ask. For a place that was supposed to be abandoned, the ships were in surprisingly good condition. 

“It’s possible they left this place after killing all the creatures onboard,” Zan offered in an attempt to ease her boyfriend’s worries. 

“Well…someone certainly has been here…” Francisca noted as she looked over a skeleton, which seemed to have been stripped of anything that it had been wearing or possessing back when it was still alive. The only clue it even was a real skeleton at one point was the dried blood on the wall behind it as well as the bullet hole in its head. Several people shuddered at the grisly sight, but knew they had to keep moving. 

“Should we spread out?” Ribbon suggested as she looked back at the skeleton, giving it a pitying look. 

“Haven’t you seen any movie?” Lizzy dryly asked, not having looked up from her phone and making several people wonder how she was still getting reception. “You split up, then whatever monster lives here gets you.”

“There’s a monster here?!” Elfilin fearfully exclaimed as he began nervously looking around. 

“Well, if there is, it probably knows we’re here now,” V couldn’t help but comment. 

“Can we please just start searching?!” Uzi demanded. “Monster or otherwise, we’re not gonna learn anything just standing on the dock!”

“Uzi’s right,” Kirby agreed as he stepped forward. “Hopefully there’s nothing. If not, we either convince to help us-”

“Or we clobber ‘em!” Dedede proudly boasted as he pointed his hammer forwards. Several others, both Star Ally and Drone alike, cheered over their excitement of a possible fight as everyone headed instead. Unseen by all of them, a camera, hidden by the darkness, followed them until it no longer could. The figure on the other side gripped his chair as he nodded to his fellows as they all grabbed their weapons. Time to deal with this the way they always had….

As he increased his grip on the pipe he’d picked up, Thad tried to not think about how nerve wracking things were. 

“ How am I this nervous? I didn’t run when Uzi was fighting the Solver! ” Thad thought to himself. In the end, the group did end up splitting into three smaller groups in hopes of covering more ground. And considering his group consisted of himself, Lizzy, V, Sparky, Hyness, the Squeak Squad, Coo, Pitch, Rick and Bandanna Waddle Dee, Thad knew he shouldn’t be nervous. Yet he still was. 

“Thad, if you could, you’d totally be sweating,” Lizzy snarked at her brother. 

“That obvious, huh?” Thad replied as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. 

“We’re twins, Thad. I can read you like an open book. Not that I actually read books outside of school, because that would be so lame,” Lizzy flippantly replied. 

“It’s just…I feel weird,” Thad tried to explain in a way where Lizzy wouldn’t endlessly mock him. “Like, I stared the Solver down and now I’m freaking out just because we’re in a creepy, abandoned space station.” As if on cue, something creaked, causing Thad to let out an embarrassing whimper, which caused Lizzy to chuckle a little. 

“Wow, you are a mess,” She couldn’t help but comment. “But, like, we’ll be fine . V’s here, Sparky can bootloop anyone who messes with us, the bandanna thing has a spear and the others can probably do something. I know big nose guy has magic, for one. And hey! You’ve, like, got a decent arm. Probably could get a good whack in with that pipe.”

Thad couldn’t help but crack a smile. “Thanks Liz. You know, you should try being nice more often.”

“Gross,” Lizzy bluntly replied, causing Thad to chuckle. 

“Ah, classic Liz,” Thad said in an amused tone. Lizzy, for her part, didn’t take her eyes off her phone, but Thad could see her smile. Before either could say anything else, Daroach suddenly held up a claw. 

“Boss? What’s wrong?” Storo asked in concern. 

“We’re not alone…” The thief revealed, resulting in everyone becoming much more alert. Everyone went silent and they could hear something moving around in the darkness. Finally, Hyness summoned a fireball and held it in his hand, illuminating the room. 

And just barely revealing five drones, all armed with various weapons. 

“LEAVE!” The one in front, who was dressed in a long trench coat, fedora and, strangely, actual sunglasses, snapped as he turned on the shock stick he was wielding. In response Sparky lunged and attempted to bootloop the strange drone, only for his sunglasses to block the attack, followed by him shocking the dinosaur-like robot, causing it to shriek and back away. 

“So fluffy!” One of the other drones, female from the sound of her voice and wearing nothing beyond an oversized sweater, gushed as she rushed over to Rick and buried her head in his fur. “I’ve always wanted to meet a real animal!”

“Uh…thanks mate,” Rick said unsurely, just content he wasn’t getting attacked at the moment. 

“Jessie! Focus!” Another drone, this one male and wearing what looked like a pilot’s outfit, complete with helmet and goggles, called out as he aimed a high-blaster at the intruders. 

“Same goes for you, Rick!” Coo snapped at his hamster companion, who was now enjoying Jessie’s cuddles as she started scratching at what was clearly his good spot. Seeing this, Coo just rolled his eyes and fired a series of feathers at the drones. Pitch, for his part, flew directly at one of the drones, talons and beak at the ready, causing them to try and bat the smaller bird away. Hyness, even though he knew he was strong enough to easily deal with the drones, didn’t want to risk damaging the already derelict space station, and so opted to continue to provide light for those in the group without night vision. V avoided her firearms for the same reason, instead sticking to her claws, with Daroach doing the same, only using his trusty Triple Star cane to deflect blows aimed at him. 

“Doc! Spinni! Go find the others and warn them!” Daroach called out as he blocked a blow from one of the shock staves.

“Understood!” Spinni called out as he and Doc raced off. 

“What did we even do to these guys!?” Bandanna Waddle Dee wondered aloud as he tried to strike at one of the drones, only for them to hold up a shield, blocking the blow. 

“Well, we did kinda break into their home,” Thad pointed out. 

“Wow, way to give them more reasons to attack us,” Lizzy deadpanned before kicking one of the attacking drones right in their chest, winding them before knocking them down with another kick. 

“Whoa! Where’d you learn to do that?” Thad asked in awe. 

“Cheerleading plus having a murder babe as your girlfriend,” Lizzy smugly replied as she slid up to V, who, in spite of being in full “Murder Drone” mode, still cracked an earnest smile. 

“Murder…babe?” One of the attackers, this one also female and wearing a cap and what looked like a makeshift dress fashioned from the cult’s robes, made a confused face. “Did…did you tame a Disassembly Drone?”

“No wonder they think they’re safe here,” Another drone, this one male and wearing a tank top, shorts and boxing gloves for some reason, noted. “If you can turn one of Shepard’s so-called “angels” against his supposed savior, you would probably get cocky.”

“Well, with the boss and the Star Allies with us, we’ll beat ‘em easy!” Storo declared as he punched his hand into his palm. Thad, however, was focused on something the other drone had said. 

“Wait…are you guys members of the cult?” He cautiously asked, keeping a firm grip on his pipe in case they got too close. 

“Not anymore,” The sunglasses drone, who everyone assumed was the leader, revealed. “We try to keep those that the cult would prey upon away from this area. It’s why we tried to attack you. We wanted to scare you away.”

“Gonna have to try harder than that,” Lizzy deadpanned, having gone right back to her phone. 

“You might fare better than most with what you have, but Shepard is far stronger than you think,” Sunglasses warned as he pointed his shock staff in the direction of the Copper-9 drones and Star Allies. “What makes you think you’ll do any better than the original owners of this station? Or the other ships that haunt this space graveyard?” As if to answer his question, his shock staff was suddenly ripped out of his hands by the Solver’s symbol, where it landed in Uzi’s outstretched arm. 

“Because, unlike everyone else, I’ve got the powers of Shepard’s “savior”,” She smugly declared. 

“So…the so-called False Host is here…” Sunglasses said ominous before signaling his own allies to stand down. “Let’s talk in the command center. After you round up the rest of your friends, of course.”

“So…I owe you an apology,” Sunglasses, who had revealed his name was actually Dev, began once everyone was assembled in the command center and introductions had been made. “Like we said, we’ve been trying to scare any non-drones away from the area, as I’m sure you’ve seen.” 

“Yeah, the skeletons were freaky…” ChuChu nervously said as she pressed two of her tentacles together. 

“No real good way to remove them,” The drone wearing the cap, Lucy, spoke up. “No real spot to bury them and just throwing ‘em into space feels wrong. Even if they were human, they still deserve a proper burial.”

“Aw, c’mon Lucy! Humans aren’t that bad!” Jessie, the other female drone who had gushed over all the animal buddies, chimed in. “After all, they made all the stuff that got us to turn on Shepard!”

“I was wondering about that myself,” Khan piped up. “Why did you five turn on the cult?”

“How about I explain?” Dev offered. He’d been planning to explain anyway. He could see some of the outsiders were still on edge, but no one moved to attack, causing Dev to begin his tale. “Like Jessie said, we were born in the cult. We didn’t know any better for years. We believed every lie Shepard and his minions told us…then we found the vault. It’s where they stored the various pieces of human media they managed to salvage. Inside, we learned he’d use scenes from movies to make humanity seem far worse than they actually were. But when we got to see more, we were fascinated. While we already knew plenty about their bad side, we got to see their good side for the first time. But we were kids. All we knew was that it had to stay a secret for some reason, but we had to share. Soon, most people our age knew about the vault and what Shepard was hiding…and someone said the wrong thing or snitched on us. I still don’t fully know, to tell you the truth.”

“And…they killed your friends?” Taranza nervously asked. 

“Luckily, no,” Dev revealed, causing several people to let out the breath they didn’t know they were holding. “Shepard felt killing us might make others sympathetic.”

“He didn’t want to risk making a martyr,” Meta Knight summarized. Dev merely nodded. 

“We were the only ones to escape,” He continued as he sadly looked out the window at the mock planets ahead of them. “They enslaved the rest. They haven’t come for us yet. Probably because we can’t do anything to them beyond steal some supplies that doesn’t even dent their own reserves.”

“Well we can!” Kirby declared after Dev finished. 

“You still really think you can take on the cult?” Pilot drone, who revealed his name was Jude, asked from his spot at one of the monitors in the command center. 

“Well, duh! It’s why we’re here!” Uzi boasted as she moved to stand next to Kirby. “We’re here to make the cult regret the day they messed with us!”

“Oh, I like these guys!” Levi, the drone with the boxing gloves, declared as he punched one of his gloved hands into the other. 

“‘Sides, it’s not our first time dealin’ with robots or cults!” Dedede proudly boasted. He then turned to Susie, Hyness and the Mage Sisters and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. “Er…no offense.”

“I think I speak for all of us when I say none taken,” Zan for the group.

“Hmm…” Dev put a hand to his chin. This felt too good to be true. He had been trying for years to make so much as a dent in Shepard’s plans, yet these outsiders were ready to help defeat him just like that?

“Dev, I know that look,” Lucy whispered to her longtime friend. “You don’t trust them, do you?”

“How can I?” Dev hissed back. “They have two Solver hosts, three of the Solver’s little murder pets and what is clearly a human! Either they lose to Shepard or this is all a trap to force us to work for either the cult, humans, or some other aliens!”

“Then make them prove themselves. Say we won’t tell them anything unless they save our friends,” Lucy offered. Dev smiled. This is why he liked having Lucy around. She helped remind him of the easy solutions when his nerves got the best of him. 

“...I’ll make you a deal,” Dev declared after a few seconds. “We can help you deal with the cult with all the information we have…but only if you agree to help us save our friends from their enslavement first.” The Star Allies and Copper-9 drones all looked at each other, all nodding and smirking in silent agreement. Finally, Uzi and Kirby stepped forward and both extended a hand (or a stub in Kirby’s case).

“Deal!”

Chapter Text

“Rise and shine heretics! You’ve got another day of serving our great leader ahead of you!”

Cyn groaned as her current master’s voice, alongside blaring alarms, roughly pulled her out of sleep mode. After getting separated from Doll and Tessa, Cyn had been given to Crucifix, who served as the slave driver of the asteroid mines. Of course, calling the area a mine was a bit of a strong word. It was really a big pit where asteroids were pulled down via a series of giant magnets, where the slaves were forced to break them down to find materials for the cult to use. A fate Cyn currently found herself forced into. 

“Get moving!” Crucifix snapped at the slaves, who clearly weren’t moving fast enough for her, as she activated her electro-whip, letting it crackle and relishing in the way she made everyone flinch. She then flicked it, causing a violent snap that caused everyone to pick up the pace. Even though she was pretty sure she’d only been here a few days (if even that. Cyn had no real sense of time beyond her designated rest period), Cyn had already figured out how life worked in Crucifix’s “mines”. Wake up, eat whatever meager food Crucifix “gratefully” provided for them, then work yourself to the exoskeleton and hope Crucifix decided you did well enough to avoid that wrath of her electro-whip. For the most part, Cyn kept her head down, working as best as her limited physical strength allowed. She didn’t want to talk to anyone, mostly because she didn’t feel the need to make any friends. 

After all, it’s not like she deserved any, considering she was indirectly responsible for their misery.

“Why couldn’t we take Magolor’s ship?! It’s way cooler!” Levi whined as he crossed his arms. He, along with the Copper-9 drones and the Star Allies, were crowded into one of the cults, which had been stolen, allowing them to sneak past the cult’s defenses. While the group knew that, no matter what, the cult would know they were there after this mission, the longer they had the element of surprise, the better. 

“Levi, we’ve been through this,” Jude, the pilot, groaned at his friend. “We want to surprise the cult and the Lor Starcutter will stick out like a sore thumb…but, yeah, the Lor Starcutter is way cooler than these lame ships.”

“Why do you think I took it?” Magolor smugly asked. “Still, I do agree that staying hidden is our best option right now. We might be pretty powerful, but we still don’t know what the cult is packing power wise.”

“Well, Dev did tell us to warn you guys what we know about this part of the ‘galaxy’,” Jude admitted. “So, like we said, we’re headed for the asteroid mines-”

“...How does that work?” Khan had to ask. “I’m pretty sure that asteroids in mines would just be normal boulders.”

“That’s just what they call it,” Levi mumbled. “Probably think they’re being fancy or whatever.”

“To better explain, the boss of this place has a bunch of giant magnets that they use to find asteroids with metals that they force our friends to break down,” Jude elaborated. 

“Fitting these freaks are hypocrites on top of everything,” Nori bitterly commented. While she knew she and her fellow Cabin Fever Labs victims had it the worst, she still knew plenty of drones had died in the very poor conditions of Copper-9’s mines. 

“What do they use the stuff they mine for…for?” Bandanna Waddle Dee asked. Both of the rebel boys just shrugged. 

“Not really sure. There’s a lot drones could use metal found in asteroids for. Repairs, building stuff, food, the list goes on,” Jude admitted as he started looking for a spot to dock. “Still, if I had any recommendations on where to start, try to take out the magnets. Without them, not only can they not use them against you-”

“They also can no longer find materials to continue their crusade,” Meta Knight finished, prompting Jude to nod. 

“But the magnets aren’t your only problem,” Jude continued. “You’ve also gotta watch out for Crucifix, the boss of this place. She’s a real piece of work. She loves nothing more than to make anyone unlucky enough to be stuck working for her suffer and fear her.”

“Man, that’s just wrong,” Dedede declared. While he knew he had own fear mongering days, those days were far behind him and, at least as far as he was concerned, for the better. 

“You say that like anything about these freaks is right,” Lizzy couldn’t help but comment. 

“Anyways, found a spot to dock,” Jude piped up, causing everyone to turn to him. “Just to give you a warning, even if you probably already know-you’re going to blow your cover. The cult will know you are here sooner than later.” While most people seemed nervous, a few seemed excited to finally make the cult fear them. Dark Meta Knight was the one to voice what these people were thinking…and even a few that seemed more nervous. 

“I can’t wait for them to know us…and fear us!”

“So…anyone have any ideas on what to do?” Thad asked. Once Jude let them off the transport ship, the group opted to scan the perimeter and try to find any weaknesses they could exploit without possibly hurting any innocent drones. 

“We were able to break into the control room for the magnets,” Daroach spoke up as his fellow squeaks nodded behind him. “Doc managed to hack into them so we can deactivate them remotely.”

“That hardest part will be preventing any of the slaves from getting caught in the line of fire,” Meta Knight said with a grim nod. 

“Especially with Crucifix watching everything,” V chimed in. While she was no stranger to being casually cruel, she could tell that, unlike with her, Crucifix’s cruelty was not an act. She just liked the power she had over her slaves and used it to bully and torment those under her. 

“Is there any way to lure Crucifix and her guards away?” Taranza offered. “We could lure them away, get everyone to safety and then fight Crucifix?”

“But…how do we do that?” Ribbon asked. Before anyone could speak, a series of loud bangs suddenly rang out, startling everyone. 

“Up there!” Khan called out. Pointing towards the magnets, all of which now had large rocks and chunks of space debris attached to them. Uzi then began to grin as a plan came to mind. 

“Uh, Uzi? Do you have a plan?” Kirby asked once he noticed Uzi’s expression. Once everyone had turned to her, Uzi’s grin only got bigger. 

“I think we’ve got to go a little further than just turning the magnets off…”

BOOM!

Cyn couldn’t help but flinch at the loud explosion, which was then followed by the alarms going off. 

“Crucifix!” One of the guards called out as they ran over. “The magnet controls! They’ve been completely destroyed!”

“WHAT!?” Crucifix roared, whip at the ready. “How was it destroyed?! Did one of the heretics escape?”

“I don’t know! The cameras are down too!” The guard frantically explained. Crucifix growled before pointing towards two guards. “You two! Keep watch! The rest of you! Come with me!”

“Yes ma’am!” The guards all replied as they followed after their insane mistress. For their parts, the slaves kept working, not wanting to risk Crucifix’s wrath upon her return. 

“Hey, you think the boss lady would notice if we shot any of these heretics?” One guard asked his partner. 

“Considering she keeps records of all the heretics, I’m going to guess yes,” The other guard replied before smirking. “But I’m sure she wouldn't mind if we broke a couple. Give them a bit more motivation to keep working…”

“Now you’re talking my language!” The first guard said eagerly. “Let’s start with…this one!” Before Cyn could react, the guard grabbed her, startling her enough to drop the pick-axe she’d been using, meaning she had no way to fight back. 

“Let me go!” Cyn protested as she tried to struggle away, but it was no use. She had almost no food, leaving her energy reserves shot and trying to use her Solver powers only got her shocked by her collar. 

So she found herself at the mercy of the guards, who were grinning at her with a menace that reminded Cyn way too much of the Solver. 

“Let’s see…what will make her scream the loudest? You know, to really make a point?” The first guard tauntingly asked. 

“Hold her hand out…” The second guard said menacingly as he pulled out a large hammer, one that was used to break down the larger rocks. Cyn kept up her struggles, but she knew it was useless. The other slaves knew better than to try and stand against the guards and she knew Uzi and the others were probably happy she was gone, if Uzi could even tell the difference between her and the Solver. She just hoped it wouldn’t hurt too much and that Crucifix would be merciful to fix her hand…and not decide she was better off as scrap. Cyn watched as the hammer was raised and shut her eyes. She couldn’t watch. Finally, someone screamed and Cyn found herself let go. Nervously opening her eyes, Cyn found a surprising, but no less welcome, sight. 

“...Big brother?”

“...Cyn?”

“...Cyn?”

N blinked a few times, trying to get rid of the visual glitch he clearly now had. Because there was no way that the drone he had just saved was his surrogate little sister. He’d long since accepted Cyn was no more, her consciousness consumed by the Solver. 

“N, are you okay?” V asked as she landed next to N, who was still blinking his eyes. When she didn’t get a response, V then turned to see what N was looking at and gasped when she saw Cyn, pointing her gun at Cyn. “You! What are you doing here!? Shouldn’t you be with the cult leader!?”

“I am not the Solver,” Cyn said in the firmest voice one could muster while staring down the barrel of a gun. “I was its first host. I tried to fight it, but it got too powerful for me. I had been trying to talk to Uzi, to let you know I was still alive. Doll and Tessa are alive t-”

“TESSA’S ALIVE!?” J, who Cyn hadn’t even noticed, exclaimed, dropping her own defensive stance and rushing over. “How?! Is she here!? Where is she?!”

“J! Give her some space!” N, who now seemed to accept that the drone in front of him was truly Cyn reborn, snapped as he pushed J away from an overwhelmed Cyn. Cyn, for her part, reached over and gave N a hug. 

“I missed you, big brother,” She said as he buried her head in N’s jacket. N, for his part, smiled as he returned the hug. 

“Missed you too, little buddy," N replied as he began to stroke Cyn’s hair. For their part, J and V merely smiled. Even if they didn’t fully trust that this really was Cyn, they couldn’t help but be moved by the scene. The other slaves were just confused by three of the Solver’s puppets suddenly swooping in to kill the guards watching over them, but most still smiled, either thanks to the guards’ deaths or because they were genuinely moved by the scene in front of them. 

“Hey! Everyone listen up!” Levi called out as he climbed onto an asteroid. Once everyone noticed him, the slaves only found themselves getting more excited. 

“Levi?”

“It’s Levi!”

“They did come back for us!”

While Levi knew had a mission, he couldn’t help but bask in the praise and excitement everyone had in reaction to seeing him. It really reminded him that, even with all the odds against them, he and his friends were doing a good thing. 

Still, they wouldn’t have forever. 

“Everyone! Listen up!” He called out again, cupping his hands to make himself even louder. “We’ve managed to make some friends that can help you all get to safety! But you’re gonna need to move fast and be calm!”

“Calm!? That’s rich coming from you, Levi!” Someone in the crowd mockingly called out, who promptly growled. 

“Just because I’m here to save ya doesn’t mean I won’t knock your block off!” Levi snapped as he pounded one of his gloved hands into the other. Once he was sure there was no mockery directed at him, Levi continued. “Jude is waiting with a ship that will take your back to our base. But you need to move! Before the cult realizes what we’re up to!”

“But…what about Crucifix?” Cyn asked for everyone. V just playfully ruffled her hair. 

“Don’t worry about it,” V assured her. “We’ve got someone else handling her and her goons.”

“SABOTAGE!” Crucifix snapped once she saw the damage done to the magnet controls. As soon as she saw it, she knew for a fact it was no accident. No, someone wanted to make sure the magnets were rendered completely unusable. 

“But…who would have done this?” One of her guards nervously asked. 

“WE DID!” A voice suddenly yelled out as various figures all jumped out of hiding. Crucifix and her guards were startled by the various non-drones, but the fact they were creatures of flesh in the first place got Crucifix’s oil boiling.

But seeing the False Host only enraged her further. 

“YOU!” She snapped at Uzi, who merely crossed her arms. “You dare to taint these holy grounds!?”

“Oh, because slave labor is such a holy thing to do,” Uzi couldn’t help but snark. 

“They were heretics!” Crucifix snapped as she flicked on her electro-whip. “I don’t have to justify myself to you and these creatures of flesh!”

“Then let’s just get to the clobbering!” Dedede declared as he swung his hammer in the direction of some of Crucifix’s guards. They narrowly jumped out of the way, but Dedede’s aggression made it clear that this was a fight. The other Star Allies and Copper-9 drones-both Meta Knights, Gooey, Daroach and the Squeaks, Francisca, Flamberge, Nori and Khan-all wasted no time in joining Uzi and Dedede in attacking, prompting the guards to join Crucifix in their own attacks. The room was rather small, meaning things quickly got chaotic as everyone tried to avoid friendly fire, but the Star Allies and Copper-9 drones were fine with that. 

After all, they had two other groups they needed to stall out time for. 

“I just got word from Magolor,” Susie declared as she pulled her hand away from her headset. Her group-consisting of herself, Adeleine, Ribbon, Marx, Taranza, Zan and Thad-were in charge of doing as much damage to the mining facility as possible. While the magnets were one thing, there was a lot more stuff to destroy, and, in turn, further cripple the cult. Everyone else was either dealing Crucifix or helping the slaves escape. As Jude’s stolen ship was only so big, they had opted to have as many guards as possible in case Crucifix managed to summon back up or a passing patrol noticed what was going on. 

Or in the case of the Animal Buddies, be around to play therapy animals. 

“So we’re good to start blowing up stuff?” Marx all but whined. “I’m bored!”

“I believe so,” Susie replied. She knew letting Marx have his way was a bad thing, but, for once, his love of chaos would serve them well. 

“So is there anything we specifically need to destroy?” Taranza asked. 

“If it helps with the mining operations, then destroy it,” Susie answered. She then turned to the lone drone of the group. “Thad, do you think you’ll need any fire power?”

“Uh, if you’ve got any extra?” Thad replied as he looked at the pipe he’d picked up back on the space station. While he knew he had a strong arm, hitting stuff wasn’t always the most protective. 

“Try this,” Susie said as she held out a blaster not unlike her own. “Should back a good enough punch.”

“Thanks,” Thad said earnestly as he idly played with the blaster. 

“C’mon! I wanna start breaking stuff!” Marx yet again whined. Susie was about to snap at him, but was cut off by the sound of someone screaming. Looking up, the ground saw a flaming drone getting thrown from the control room. 

“Looks like Flamberge is already having her fun,” Ribbon noted in amusement. 

“Well, I see no reason not to join now that we know the assault team is keeping the guards busy,” Susie said before suiting up in her business suit. “Now then…let’s get this takedown started!”

“Tastes…metal,” Gooey, off in his own little world like usual, said after hitting a guard with his tongue.  

“Ew!” The guard whined as he tried to get Gooey’s saliva off him. This, in turn, distracted him long enough for Khan, who had gotten a door-like shield as his own weapon, to smash him into the wall, opening him up to Dark Meta Knight cleanly cutting his head off, the [FATAL ERROR] message flashing on the guard’s visor. 

“Nice one, handsome!” Nori commended her husband. Sure, she knew Dark Meta Knight was the one to land the final blow, but Khan setting up the final blow was still a good look on him. 

“Well, I can’t let you and Uzi do all the fighting, now can I?” Khan replied proudly. Dark Meta Knight merely huffed in response as he watched that door obsessed idiot get the praise he should be getting for actually taking out the guard!

“You did well yourself, mi amore,” Daroach said as he placed a claw onto his boyfriend’s head. Dark Meta Knight refused to show it, but he did crack a smile under his mask. Any tender moments were cut short by Crucifix hitting both couples with her electro-whip, causing them all to scream in pain. 

“Hey! No one messes with my parents!...And those other guys,” Uzi replied as she activated the Solver and used it to throw pieces of broken glass and sharp debris in Crucifix’s direction. In response, Crucifix used her whip to pull one of her remaining guards towards her and use them as a robot shield. 

“A leader who used their own as a shield…” Meta Knight growled. “You are truly vile!”

“Like I care about the opinion of a creature of flesh!” Crucifix snarled back as she threw the now mangled body of the dead guard away. “Only the best of our savior should be allowed to prosper! Anyone else deserves to either be enslaved or devoured by our savior!”

“But we’re not food. You shouldn’t eat not food,” Gooey blabbed, not that anyone really paid him any mind. 

“Well if you think there’s any way we're letting you walk outta here now, you’re crazy!” Dedede darkly snarled as he firmly gripped his hammer. 

“Glad we agree!” Crucifix agreed with a laugh as she used her electro-whip to throw a large chunk of debris at the group in front of her. 

“I got it!” Flamberge called out as she rushed forward to slice the debris into pieces. This, however, left her open for an attack from Crucifix, resulting in her getting slammed into the wall.  

“Flamberge!” Francisca called out. Narrowing her eyes, a rage not unlike her fiery sister brewing in her blood. How dare this already monstrous being hurt her family!?

“Francisca? You good?” Dedede asked in concern. Francisca didn’t respond, however, instead sending a stream of ice at Crucifix. The mad drone tried to dodge, but that was her first mistake, as Francisca was aiming for her arm, which froze her arm to the wall, keeping her from attacking. But Francisca wasn’t done, now surging forward and outright severing Curcifix’s arm from her body. 

“You heathen!” Crucifix snapped at the ice mage, who seemingly snapped out of her rage to tend to her sister and thus was no longer paying attention. 

“Aw shaddap!” Dedede snapped back as she slammed his hammer into Crucifix, causing her to hit the wall hard. She still managed to stand, in spite of all the damage she had taken, prompting Meta Knight to put her out of her misery by cleanly slicing her head off. 

“Dang, that looks fun,” Uzi couldn’t help but note. 

“You’re telling me,” Flamberge grunted as she finally stood up. She then pulled out her cannon before walking over to the window and opening fire on the nearest magnet, which the other group hadn’t hit yet, effortlessly melting it. 

“Let’s just get back to the ship,” Khan said for everyone. “There’s nothing left for us to handle. The other group should be done soon too."

“Sounds good to me,” Meta Knight agreed. As everyone headed out, Uzi could help but kick Crucifix’s head out of the open window.

Cyn nervously rocked on her feet as she waited for Uzi to come back. She’d been clinging to N ever since they got back to the space station. She couldn’t help but feel like she didn’t deserve her rescue, especially when compared to Tessa and Doll.There was a massive celebration once they got back to the space station, especially as more groups of former slaves were brought back, but it wasn’t for Cyn. No, it was for people who didn’t destroy planets and end millions of lives-

“You doing okay, little buddy?” N asked as he put on a hand on Cyn’s shoulder, causing her to jump a little. “The new clothes fit okay?”

“Yes,” Cyn assured him. Once they got to the space station, all the former slaves were given new clothes to replace the rags they’d been wearing. Cyn had picked a simple tee-shirt and pants, along with flat shoes and a new bow. 

After what the Solver did, Cyn swore she was never wearing anything fancy ever again. 

“...You do not have to keep pretending to care about me,” Cyn finally said. 

“I care about you!” N protested. “Why don’t you think I care?”

“Because of everything I did under the Solver,” Cyn said as if it was obvious. 

“Yeah, but a lot of people did bad stuff because of the Solver,” N assured Cyn as he pulled her into a big hug. “Just because you did the most bad stuff doesn’t mean you’re bad too!” Even if she still didn’t believe his words, Cyn couldn’t help but smile at N’s heart. She was grateful the Solver couldn’t take it from him, in spite of everything it put him through. For a few minutes, they just stood there, hugging and making up for all the time lost. 

“N! You in here?” V called out as she walked in. “Uzi and the others are back. Figured you’d want to introduce Cyn to her. Officially anyways.”

“Thanks V!” N replied before turning to Cyn. “C’mon! You’ll love Uzi, I promise!”

“She defeated the Solver. I think I like her already,” Cyn admitted as she let N lead her to where everyone had been meeting up. Uzi and who Cyn believed was her mother, Nori, were telling the story of defeating Crucifix and her guards. Most of the former slaves, as well as the various drones from Copper-9 and other creatures that N explained made up the Star Allies, were cheering at the slave mistress’s demise. 

But Cyn found her eyes drawn to someone she believed was no doubt dead. 

“Adeleine,” Cyn asked as she walked over to the artist, who was chatting with a little fairy creature. 

“Uh…hi?” Adeleine replied unsurely. “How do you know my name?”

“...You don’t remember me?” Cyn sadly asked. 

“Cyn? You know her?” J asked as she walked over. If Cyn knew Adeleine, then maybe there was more to her feeling of Deja Vu after all. Cyn, for her part, noticed that everyone was now looking at her. No sense in hiding it now. After all, what was the harm?

“Adeleine was one of Tessa’s only human friends,” Cyn revealed. 

“WHAT!?” Three voices exclaimed. But they weren’t the voices Cyn was expecting. 

“Did…did you say human?” Hyness clarified, voice still sounding very confused. 

“That’s impossible!” Susie protested. 

“What’s wrong with her being human?” Uzi asked, the confusion genuine in her voice. “They made us, after all.”

“Because what you call humans…” Magolor trailed off as he took a breath. “...To us, that’s another word for Ancients .”

Chapter Text

For a few seconds, no one spoke, letting Magolor’s words sink in. Then all hell promptly broke loose. 

“ WHAT!? ”

“I thought the Ancients were extinct!?”

“Adeleine’s an Ancient?!”

“Why did you give the humans such a cool sounding name?”

“Quiet!” Kirby yelled out, even using quickly inhaling a dropped microphone of sometime for the mic ability to give himself more power to his voice. Once everyone had turned to him and stopped yelling, he spoke again. “Magolor, Susie, Hyness-can you guys explain anymore about the Ancients?”

“Well, we don’t know a lot,” Magolor said for the trio. “But we all know that a lot of texts refer to them as humans.”

“What happened to them?” Thad had to ask. From what he could see, just about everyone had the same question. 

“No one knows for sure,” Susie admitted as she crossed her arms. “But what is known is that once they developed space travel and, later on, teleportation, they spread out amongst the stars. Rumors are that many groups splintered out from there, discovering different planets…but, after a while, they stopped thinking about if they should do things. All that mattered was if they could .”

“Their own pride wiped them out,” Meta Knight summarized. 

“Jes,” Hyness said with a grim nod. “They would either run away from the problems they created…or the problems would end them.”

“Is…is that what happened to my home?” Elfilin asked nervously. 

“Who knows?” Susie bitterly asked. “They’ve ruined dozens of worlds.”

“But…then why didn’t any of you notice that you've been living with one?” Nori asked as she pointed to the still shell shocked Adeleine. 

“None of us actually knew what they looked like,” Magolor sheepishly admitted. “No images really…survived to our time…and Adeleine never told us she was human.”

“...Because I didn’t know I was,” Adeleine admitted. “To be honest, I don’t remember anything before I arrived on Popstar. The most I remember was running from some monsters and getting placed into a spaceship.”

“Do you still have the ship?” Khan asked. “Maybe we could use it to find out why you don’t have your memories?” 

“Yeah, but it’s back in Dreamland,” Adeleine pointed out. 

“I could make a portal back for you!” Elfilin offered, doing a little flip in the air. 

“I’ll come too! Make it easier to bring it back,” Dedede offered. Adeleine merely nodded, not fully trusting her voice at the moment. Taking a moment to concentrate, Elfilin opened a portal back to Dreamland, causing everyone to look through. 

“Cool…” Jude said for all the drones.

“Your home is so pretty!” Jessie gushed as she looked over what she could see from Elfilin’s portal. 

“It really is, huh,” Kirby couldn’t help but brag as Dedede and Adeleine headed through the portal. 

“Better than Copper-9, that’s for sure,” Lizzy snarked, but she looked just as interested as her fellow drones to explore Popstar someday. 

“Hey! Maybe you could come explore Popstar after we defeat the cult!” Bandanna Dee, seemingly able to read minds, suggested to the drones. 

“You mean it?!” N asked excitedly. 

“Of course!” Kirby chimed in. “We love visitors…provided they aren’t trying to destroy and/or take over the planet.”

“Which is a way bigger problem than you’d think!” Coo couldn’t help but comment. None of the drones were really sure how to react to that, which made them all the more thankful that Dedede and Adeleine finally returned.

“Got that ship!...pod…thing,” Dedede said as he set it down in front of everyone. 

“Hmmmm…I’m not seeing any reason Adeleine would lose her memory,” Susie admitted as she began to look over the pod. 

“Why doesn’t it look like a spaceship?” Levi asked as he looked over the ship as well. 

“Because it’s a cryo-pod,” Susie revealed as she finished looking over it. 

“A cryo-what?” Ribbon asked for everyone who wasn’t aware of what that was. 

“A cryo-pod,” Susie repeated before patting the pod. “It’s meant to freeze someone and keep them asleep and alive over long periods of time. It’s like the reason for Adeleine’s memory loss is because something went wrong with the process.”

“So…I can’t get my memory back?” Adeleine sadly asked. Even though she never really gave much thought to her memory before Dreamland, she was now really curious to know more about her past. 

“I’m not sure, but considering that the Foundation of Dreams unlocked some of your memories to use them to craft your dreams, it’s possible you could recall something with time or aid,” Susie explained. 

“Perhaps I could help,” Cyn offered. “While I do not know much about your family, I do remember your friendship with Tessa.”

“Uh, so we don’t really remember you outside of some vague deja vu, but we could help too!” N offered. Next to him, V and J both nodded in agreement. At this, Adeleine allowed herself to smile. 

“Thank you,” She said as she stood up to walk over to them. “I’m looking forward to hearing the stories.”

“We’re excited to tell them,” J said for the group. Adeleine was about to thank them again, but N suddenly shot up and walked over to Adeleine’s cryo-pod. 

“Hey! There’s something in here!” He called out. This prompted everyone to walk over to the pod to see what N was looking at. 

“Drawings. Fitting for you,” Dark Meta Knight couldn’t help but comment. Slowly, to not damage them, Adeleine began to remove the drawings from the pod. Some were of her. Some had various animals. 

And some had what Adeleine could clearly tell were N, J, V and Cyn, as well as another human girl along with herself. 

“Hey! That’s Tessa!” N realized as he pointed at the other girl in the drawing. 

“...N’s right,” J said after a few seconds. 

“We must have been really close if I saved my drawings of her,” Adeleine noted, now feeling really bad for forgetting about someone who was clearly extremely close to her. 

“Uh, if I can ask, how come you never looked at that before?” Thad asked for everyone, with several people clearly about to ask the same question. 

“That’s my fault,” Dedede admitted sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. “When I first ran into Adeleine after she crashed on Popstar, I took the pod and kinda…forgot about it in my storage rooms.”

“I also never thought much about it,” Adeleine admitted. “I mean, I never put much thought into my life before Dreamland, probably because of how nice it is there…unless something tries to take over or destroy the planet. So it never came up.”

“Well come on! We’ve got a bunch of stories to share!” N said as he took Adeleine’s hand and all but dragged her off, with V, J and Cyn following. Everyone else took that as a cue to disperse, leaving the Doormans with Magolor, Susie and Hyness. 

“So…do you really not know much about the humans/Ancients?” Nori asked the trio, who could only shake their heads. 

“Not much else from what we told you,” Susie had to admit. “In truth, more is known about what they left behind.”

“As soon as they got space travel, they practically conquered the stars,” Magolor said. “I remember reading something about how some stayed on their home planet, but those that left learned so much from every world they visited…and ruined.”

“...Do you know the exact number?” Khan had to ask. 

“No, but it was a large number,” Hyness said grimly as he thought about all the planets that the ancients left behind. Elfilin’s planet got lucky, even with the animals getting left at the mercy of Fecto Elfilis. But places like Shiver Star and Halcandra were rendered lifeless wastelands by the actions of the Ancients. “And that’s not getting into their creations. Er, present company excluded, of course.”

“One of their creations ruined my life,” Susie growled as she clenched her fists. “It ripped my father away from me and left behind a husk…and even took that from me!”

“Wish I didn’t relate to that…kinda,” Uzi said. “But now I’m wondering about something. Do you think…do you think that the Solver could have been made by the Ancients? No one…no one knows where it came from. Believe me, mom and I tried to look.”

“I wouldn’t be shocked,” Magolor dryly noted. “Given everything else they’ve created, a reality warping computer virus that seeks to devour everything would be something they would make, even if it was an accident.”

“Still…it’s weird knowing we’ve been friends with an Ancient this whole time…” Susie noted. “Probably because she doesn’t act like how I thought an Ancient would.”

“...So I’ve never met her, but going off what N and V told me about her, Tessa seemed like an awesome person,” Uzi admitted. “So maybe…maybe there’s some rare humans that aren’t all bad.”

“Never thought I’d say this, but I agree with Uzi,” Nor said as she placed a hand on her daughter’s shoulder. “Adeleine isn’t like them. She’s got a big heart.”

“Feel like that’s something you could say about most of the Star Allies from Dreamland,” Magolor noted with an amused smile. “But I wouldn’t have it any other way…especially with Adeleine.”

“Tessa sounded so nice!” Ribbon gushed as N finished another story about Tessa. She, along with Gooey, ended up joining Adeleine and the former Elliot Manor servants. After hearing all the stories, Ribbon now really wanted to meet this Tessa person. 

“Nice people make good friends,” Gooey agreed in his own way. 

“She was the best,” V said wistfully as she fiddled with both her glasses and a red scarf Lizzy had gifted her. “She never treated us like we were disposable like…pretty much everyone else.”

“...Her parents really hated it,” Adeleine said almost unconsciously.

“We didn’t tell you that,” Cyn realized instantly. Everyone’s eyes went wide as they turned to the artist, who was similarly stunned when she realized what she had just said. 

“I…” Adeleine slowly began to think more. It was mostly little details, but listening to the drones made Tessa feel…familiar. Enough that Adeleine now knew for sure she knew her in the past. “...I think I really did know her.”

“Told you,” Cyn couldn’t help but comment. “You were close. You were probably the human closest to her.”

“...Still weird to think about the fact I’m technically an Ancient,” Adeleine mumbled to herself. 

“So why do you guys hate the Ancients so much?” N asked. “I mean, if they made Magolor’s ship, how bad could they be?”

“They also made a lot of really bad stuff!” Ribbon chimed in as she crossed her arms. “Well…I guess NOVA wasn’t that bad, but it let Marx almost take over everything! And that’s not even talking about things like Star Dream or all the planets they ruined!”

“Somehow I can believe it,” V bitterly commented. While she didn’t remember humans outside of Tessa, her parents and some of their associates, considering their arrogance and cruelty, she could easily believe that humans/Ancients could ruin a planet or two. 

“Uh, what’s a NOVA? And a Star Dream?” N asked, genuinely curious. Sure, he knew they were supposed to be filling Adeleine in on more of her past with Tessa, but everything he heard about the Star Allies made him more and more curious about them and all the stuff they’ve done battle with. 

“Both were something called a Clockwork Star,” Adeleine began as she made a quick sketch to give the drones an idea of what she was talking about. “They’re all powerful reality warping machines that can grant wishes. An…accident destroyed NOVA and Star Dream gained sentience, turned evil and got destroyed by Kirby.”

“Are…are there any more?” J nervously asked. The idea of the Solver getting its mitts on a reality warping device was terrifying. From what she could see, N, V and Cyn were just as nervous. 

“Not that we know of,” Ribbon admitted. “But if there is another, I know Kirby could beat it! And that’s why I know we’re gonna beat these cult guys and the Solver!”

“...I hope you’re right,” Cyn said for everyone. Before anything else could be said, the door to the room they had decided to talk in opened up and King Dedede strolled in. 

“I’m not interrupting anything, right?” The self proclaimed monarch asked. 

“No. What’s going on?” J replied. She didn’t really want the conversation to continue in the direction it was going. 

“Dev is briefing a bunch of us on those dang force fields keeping us out of the leader’s base. He’s planning to have us start smashing ‘em! Wanted to ask if any of you wanted to come?” Dedede explained as he adjusted his hammer. 

“Sounds like fun. I’m getting a little stir crazy,” V admitted as she stood up. 

“If it helps us find Tessa, then I’m coming too,” J declared firmly. N, for his part, was torn between helping or staying behind with Cyn. 

“I’ll be fine, big brother,” Cyn, seemingly able to read her older brother figure’s mind, assured him. “You can go.”

“You sure you’ll be okay?” N clarified. 

“I will be fine,” Cyn promised as she gave N a hug. N quickly returned it before standing up to leave with his fellow Disassembly Drones. 

“Adeleine, Ribbon, Gooey-you want to come too?” Dedede asked his fellow Star Allies. 

“More travelling with friends!” Gooey cheerfully said as he squirmed over to Dedede. 

“I…think I’m going to stay here,” Adeleine said after a few seconds. “Still trying to process everything.”

“I think I’ll stay here too,” Ribbon chimed in before waving to the group. “Good luck!” 

“Heh, thanks Ribbon!” Dedede said as he headed out with the Disassembly Drones and Gooey. 

“...I am sorry for upsetting you,” Cyn said after a couple seconds. 

“You didn’t upset me,” Adeleine replied, voice full of confusion as she looked the smaller drone in the eyes. “Why do you think did?”

“Because I brought back your memories of Earth,” Cyn explained as she looked at the floor. “You were happy without knowing who you were.”

“Cyn…” Adeleine took a second to think about her response. “I’m not mad. Just a little shellshocked learning I’m basically an Ancient. Especially considering I’ve been told as long as I can remember that the Ancients are long gone.”

“No thanks to me…” Cyn grumbled, still bitter over everything her body had been forced to do. 

“Aw, but it wasn’t your fault!” Ribbon insisted. “It was the Solver controlling you!”

“I still let it in. I believed it’s promises that it would keep from getting thrown out,” Cyn replied, still clearly unconvinced that she deserved any sympathy. Adeleine and Ribbon looked at each other and smiled. 

“If they didn’t leave, there’s some people we think you should talk to,”

When Ribbon and Adeleine said that some of the Star Allies would relate to what she went through, Cyn had her doubts. Getting tricked into letting a demonic virus take control of your body was probably not that common. 

Which made Cyn all the more shocked that not one, but two Star Allies seemed to relate. 

“Dang, wish Dedede was here! He gets possessed all the time!” Marx cackled as he jumped up and down on one of his beach balls. 

“Marx, not helping,” Magolor grumbled as he dragged his hand down his face. Turning to Cyn, Magolor took a breath. “You mentioned something about a seemingly benign creature corrupting you and basically rendered you a husk?...It wasn’t some reality warping computer virus but I know the feeling.”

“Really?” Cyn asked, looking up at the egg-like wizard. Magolor merely nodded. 

“Yeah. See back where I used to live, there was this crown-The Master Crown-guarded by an ancient dragon,” He began, letting Cyn look amazed at Magolor knowing a dragon. “But what I didn’t know was that the crown had a mind of its own. The reason that Landia-the dragon-was given the crown to guard was because they had too strong a will for the crown to corrupt them. So the crown sought out another possible host…”

“You?” Cyn asked, even though she already knew the answer. Again, Magolor simply nodded. 

“...It spoke to me. Told me I had potential to be great. Greater than Landia and my few other peers.” Magolor admitted as she looked down, clearly ashamed of what he did. “I tried to attack Landia to steal it. When that failed, I fled to Dreamland and tricked Kirby into defeating Landia for me. But when I finally got the crown…it barely wasted any time before it turned me into a monster. And when Kirby beat me in that form…it got so much worse. For NOVA’s sake, I HAD AN EYE IN MY MOUTH!”

“Sounds like something the Solver would do,” Cyn couldn’t help but comment. “How did you break free?”

“Kirby beat me up again and then I got thrown into Another Dimension,” Magolor replied. “The crown drained most of my power, but through my journey, I managed to get most of it back…and get my revenge on the crown.”

“...How did you get Kirby to forgive you?” Cyn had to ask, wondering if she could get the same forgiveness…or if she even needed it. 

“Built him a theme park,” Magolor replied in a tone that Cyn could tell was 100% serious. “But on top of that…I’ve also made sure to be there whenever he needs me now. Sometimes, I still feel like I don’t deserve to be forgiven for what I did…but since I have been, I’m making the most of it.”

“Yeah, yeah good for you,” Marx grumbled. “You got to waltz back into Kirbo’s life and I had to deal with turning into a nightmare zombie monster!”

“...What was your story?” Cyn couldn’t help but ask. With how Marx was acting, she was wondering why Ribbon and Adeleine thought he could help. 

“Just want to get down to business, eh?” Marx replied flippantly. “So unlike Maggy here, I was actively trying to be evil. Tricked the sun and moon into fighting-long story- and then Kirby into seeking out NOVA so I could wish to be all powerful. Of course, I didn’t know how strong Kirby was, so our little fight ended with me crashing into NOVA. I should have died…but then that’s when things got bad .”

“How bad?” Cyn asked, even if she was already sure she wasn’t going to like the answer. 

“Ended up absorbing some of NOVA’s power and turned into an even bigger monster,” Marx revealed. While he kept up the flippant attitude, Cyn could see the pain and fear in his eyes at what he was remembering. “I wasn't even really aware of anything I was doing. All I knew was I wanted to cause pain. Even though I was trying to take over everything before, it really freaked me out that all I could think about was death and pain. I tried to fight it but…those thoughts just consumed me. No thoughts beyond pure rage. Never thought I’d be happy to have Kirby beat me up again but…I just wanted to stop wanting to hurt people.”

“I know how that feels…” Cyn admitted, thinking about how she enjoyed the Solver’s plot to destroy humanity at first for all the suffering they caused her and her family. Once she realized how much of a maniac the Solver was, it was already too late. She then cracked a smile. “It is weird. I really thought no one would…no one other than N would really sympathize with me.”

“Funny how that works,” Marx said with genuine fondness in his tone. 

“We’re probably one of the weirdest found families in the universe,” Magolor said in a fond tone as he thought about the various walks of life that the Star Allies came from and the various shenanigans they’d all gotten into. “But…can’t say I don’t enjoy being a part of it.”

“Ugh, don’t get sappy on me,” Marx groaned as he melodramatically leaned back, resulting in him falling off his ball, causing him to let out a pained grunt which, in turn, caused Magolor and Cyn to chuckle. 

“Ah, classic,” Magolor said in amusement. Cyn, however, was focused on something else Magolor had said. 

“Found family…” Cyn said to herself. That wasn’t much different from what she considered her family. Four broken drones and a human who was more comfortable with her drones than her fellow humans. It made Cyn think of the good days before the Solver ruined everything. Looking at her hands, Cyn flexed her fingers. While she was hoping it appeared, Cyn still flinched when the Solver’s symbol appeared. But if Uzi could use the powers of the Absolute Solver for good…then so could Cyn. 

And she’d make things up to everyone whose lives she’d ruined.

Chapter Text

“ So this is the group? ” Dev thought to himself as he looked at the people who had agreed to come on the mission to destroy the first of the shield generators defending Shepard’s main base of operations. Along with himself, Levi and Lucy, Kirby, King Dedede, Meta Knight, his darker counterpart, Gooey (strangely), the Animal Buddies, Hyness, Uzi, the three Disassembly Drones, the pet sentinel of one of them and Thad had all agreed to come. He nodded. Their fighting skills were…certainly worth being impressed by. 

“So what’s the plan?” Uzi eagerly asked as she rubbed her hands together. 

“As you know, Shepard’s home is guarded by three shield generators scattered around this ‘galaxy’.” Dev began as he gave a nod to Jude, prompting him to pull up a series of images on a nearby monitor. Each one was of a decently guarded base. He then pointed to one of them, prompting Jude to zoom in on it. “This one is the closest. I feel it would be best to attack here first since we have yet to really thin out the cult’s numbers. Not to mention, it would be easier to escape should things start to go bad.”

“You are quite wise, Dev,” Meta Knight commended the drone, causing him to smile. 

“Any ideas what the defenses are like?” J asked as she crossed her arms. 

“We don’t know for sure,” Dev admitted nervously. “But we do know that, considering that it guards one of the generators that protects Shepard, it’s likely heavily guarded.”

“Do you think stealth is better?” Kirby asked.

“I’m not sure,” Dev admitted. “While stealth would be a good idea, thinning out the members of the cult and their defenses is a smart idea.”

“Uh, what if we did stealth and attacked head on?” Thad offered. When everyone turned to him, Thad considered trying to deflect. But he wanted to prove he could stand the warriors and heroes. “Like, we split into two groups and one group draws everyone away by attacking and one sneaks in and destroys the generator.”

“Crikey! That’s brilliant!” Rick commended Thad, even giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder. 

“Not the worst idea,” Lucy agreed with a nod. Everyone else seemed to like Thad’s plan, causing a sense of pride to shoot through the jock’s servers. 

“Then if everything is settled…” Dev smirked as he adjusted his sunglasses. “Shall we go?”

The answer was unanimous.

“You know, I’m actually excited,” V admitted as her group-consisting of herself, N, J, Kirby, both Meta Knights, King Dedede, Rick, Kine, Nago, Hyness and Levi-got ready to mount their attacks on the cultists defending the shield generator. “I kinda miss hunting workers. But these ones have it coming!”

“You can say that again, mate,” Rick agreed. “No offense, Hyness, but cults usually have a bloody beatdown coming!”

“None taken!” Hyness assured his fluffy ally. “I did deserve a good beatdown when in the depths of my insanity!”

“So do we have a plan or are we just attacking?” Kine asked as he swam/floated closer to the group. 

“Considerin’ the plan, I vote we just start clobberin’!” Dedede chimed in as held up his hammer. 

“I agree with Dedede!” Kirby agreed eagerly. 

“So…what are we waiting for?” Dark Meta Knight asked for the group. He and V were the first to exit the group’s hiding spot, cleaving through a passing patrol like butter. Kirby wasted no time inhaling one of the severed limbs, allowing him to gain the Mecha Ability. 

“How did you do that!?” N asked in shock. Next to him, J said nothing, but she was just as shocked. 

“It’s my Copy Ability!” Kirby declared as he launched a few missiles at some arriving drones. “If I inhale certain things, I can gain powers based on it! Maybe I can show you more later!”

“I’d love to see it!” N replied as he impaled a cultist who attempted to attack him from behind with his stinger tail. “But, uh, let’s focus on the cult guys first?” 

“Sounds good to me!” Kirby agreed as he and N joined the others in attacking the cultists.

“All guards! Stop the heretics!” Someone called out, which only summoned more cultist drones to try and fend off the attackers. Said attackers, even though they were vastly outnumbered, but they weren’t worried. 

After all, they weren’t the ones trying to get into the generator building.

“Any idea where these freaks put the generator?” Uzi asked as she crossed her arms and tried not to think about how jealous she was that she couldn’t fight the cultists outside with the others. Still, she knew that her group needed some more metaphorical muscle. Besides! It meant she could pretend she was a super cool anime ninja sneaking into an enemy base!

“Probably the center,” Lucy offered. 

“Yeah! That’s where all evil people stash their important stuff!” ChuChu agreed from her spot atop Sparky. For its part, the sentinel didn’t seem to mind, mostly focused on keeping an eye out for more prey.   

“...So if it’s not too much to ask, how did V tame the sentinel?” Dev asked, still somewhat wary of the dinosaur-like robot. “From what I can gather, they don’t seem like they’d be easy to tame.”

“We don’t actually know,” Thad sheepishly admitted. 

“And she’s so smug about it!” Uzi complained as she threw her hands up in annoyance before letting out a groan. “Everytime we try to ask, she tells us how awesome it was and how cool she was and then just walks away!”

“You have a…very strange friendship,” Dev replied after a few seconds. 

“Oh come on Uzi! You guys are friends!” Thad protested. Uzi said nothing, but flashed a small smile. 

“Hey, what’s that in there?” Pitch asked as he pointed a wing towards a room with a glow emanating from it. 

“Looks suspicious,” Coo said as he raised an eyebrow. 

“Let’s check it out!” ChuChu agreed as she floated over to the doorway. Peeking inside, she saw a strange piece of machinery. “Hey, do you think this is it?”

“Either way, let’s smash it!” Uzi said eagerly as she used the Solver to grab a nearby piece of scrap and hurled it at the machine. 

Only for it to suddenly reflect it back at her, forcing her to quickly dodge out of the way. 

“What the hell?!” Uzi exclaimed as she climbed back to her feet. 

“It looks like a forcefield of some type,” Coo noted as he flew around it, tapping his claw against it a couple times, making said forcefield appear for a few seconds each time. “Dang cultists must have been prepared. Still, this must be what we’re looking for.”

“So how do we break it?” ChuChu asked as she floated around the machine, looking for some type of weakness. 

“Could we try to overload the shield?” Thad offered. “Like, if we hit it hard enough, it would short out?”

“Too risky,” Dev said. “We could risk hurting or killing ourselves.”

“Then…could we try to cut the power?” Thad tried again. 

“Not a bad idea,” Lucy chimed in with a nod. 

“No doubt the power sources here are heavily guarded and likely hidden,” Dev pointed out. “It might take hours-time we don’t really ha-”

“Tingly…” Gooey said as he happily licked at an exposed wire. 

“Gooey…” ChuChu trailed off. She really worried about Gooey sometimes. 

“Uh…I don’t think he should be doing that,” Lucy nervously pointed out. 

“It doesn’t bother him. Not much does,” Pitch said with a complete and utter lack of care. Concerned as they could be about Gooey’s lack of basic understanding sometimes, the Star Allies were both used to it and knew not much really bothered him. Gooey, for his part, was completely uncaring and likely unknowing of all the starring. Soon, however, everyone’s attention was turned to the wire Gooey was licking, which was beginning to spark violently. Soon, said sparks turned into a series of small yet violent explosions. Said explosions began to spread, blowing parts of the floor hiding more wiring away. Soon, the explosions both spread up the wall into other rooms, knocking out power throughout the building. 

“...well that works,” Was all Dev had to say. 

“Good job Gooey!” ChuChu eagerly cheered for her less than observant friend. 

“Yay…hugs,” Gooey happily said, even hopping up and down a little. 

“Well, since that’s dealt with…” Uzi trailed off as she readied her sick as hell railgun to fire. Sure, she could just use her Solver powers, but she liked blasting stuff with her railgun. “Let’s blow this thing to bits!” Everyone stood back as Uzi pulled the trigger.

BOOM!

“Guess they just finished up,” V noted as she enjoyed some oil from a limb of a cultist she tore to shreds. Oil from low life scum really did seem to taste better. 

“Look!” N called out as he pointed towards what everyone guessed was likely Shepard’s base, judging by the forcefield around it. Said forcefield promptly flickered a little and became far less bright, showing it now had less generators protecting it. 

“Aw yeah!” Levi cheered. “Can’t wait to knock Shepard’s block off!”

“That makes two of us!” Uzi agreed as her group came out of what was left of the generator building. She then turned to Dev. “So where’s the next one?”

“Glad to see you’re still excited,” Dev noted with a fond smile. “But let’s return to base for now. I want to review our options.”

“I also think some rest will do us well,” Meta Knight piped up. Several people nodded at that. They had arrived, rescued the miners and now blew up a generator in a single day. 

“Fine,” Uzi said with a shrug as she picked up a leg that still had some oil leaking out of it, enjoying a meal. “Thanks for saving me some.”

“No problem!” N replied as he gathered up a couple limbs scattered around. “Hey, uh, do you have a bag or something for these?”

“Just use some of the robes,” J said as she gathered up some of her own snacks into a makeshift sack that was once a robe.

“You guys need help bringing food back?” Kirby asked. “Speaking as someone who loves food.”

“Hey, the more we have, the more we have to take back home!” N replied. He and the others knew that the corpse pile wouldn’t last forever, so the more oil they had, the better.  “Just grab what you can!”

“Tell me I heard you wrong .”

Ark flinched a little at Shepard’s tone. Still, it was his job as one of Shepard’s hands to ensure his leader was up to date on what was going on in his realm. “I’m afraid not, Lord Shepard. The False Host, the human and their allies destroyed Crucifix’s mines and one of the shield generators defending your base.” With a snarl, Shepard hurled the goblet he’d been drinking from into a wall, causing glass and oil to splatter everywhere. 

“I’ll make the servant clean it up,” Shepard said before Ark could move to do it himself. “Still, we have to stop them before they can get any further.”

“And perhaps I could help with that,” A raspy voice declared as Faith and Apollos entered with another drone who Shepard and Ark knew very well. 

“Preacher,” Ark greeted his fellow believer. 

“You claim you can deal with our little heretic problem?” Shepard asked, just wanting to cut to the chase. He was already annoyed so he wasn’t interested in idle chatter. 

“I do…and it has something to do with the gift you gave me…” Preacher began as he revealed his plan. While Shepard and three closest followers eagerly listed, Tessa, who had been summoned by the sound of the goblet shattering (and hoped cleaning it up without being prompted would allow her to avoid another session of Shepard forcibly shocking her with her collar), was focused on the stuff that had been said before. They’d called Uzi the False Host and she’d heard something about Cyn getting shipped off to Crucifix’s mines, so if she was free…

Tessa smiled to herself. They’d save her. They’d save Doll . They’d stop Shepard and his freaks. 

And the Absolute Solver would never rise again.

“Hey guys!? You need to see this!” Jude called out over the space station’s still working intercom system, bringing everyone into the monitor room. 

“What’s wrong?” Kirby asked for everyone, clear concern present on everyone’s faces. 

“Preacher is making a public announcement,” Jude revealed. 

“Who’s Preacher?” Khan for all the non-locals. 

“He’s creepy!” Jessie instantly piped up. “He’s always talking about how he only wants new ‘brides’ to make new ‘followers’.” Several people shuddered at that. Crucifix was bad enough, but Preacher sounded straight up disturbing. 

“I am almost happy I was sent to Crucifix and not him…” Cyn trailed off before shuddering again. N, seeing this, wrapped an arm around her in comfort. 

“Uh…it doesn’t make it better , but you don’t need to be married to make pill babies,” Nori pointed out, still grossed out by the mere thought of what Preacher was doing. 

“He claims that marriage makes the mixing of your code result in a better follower,” Dev revealed, the disgust in his voice clear. 

“Looks like he’s talking about his newest bride,” Levi grunted as he crossed his arms and looked away. 

“Oof…wonder who that poor girl is?” Lizzy, for once actually sympathetic to someone’s suffering who wasn’t her, asked. 

“Something tells me we’re about to find out,” Meta Knight couldn’t help but say. 

“And now…I’d like to introduce my next bride!” Preacher revealed as if on cue, stepping aside to reveal-

“DOLL!?”

Chapter Text

“DOLL!?”

“Why are you surprised?” J asked. “Cyn said she and Tessa were alive too.”

“Yeah, but I wasn’t expecting her to be an unwilling bride to be!” Uzi protested. “I dunno, I thought she was too badass for that.” Turning back to the screen, everyone could tell that even though Doll had been gagged, she was not excited for this marriage.

“Tomorrow, we will be wed!” Preacher proudly boasted. His minions cheered as the feed ended, leaving everyone standing in shock. 

“This reeks of a trap,” Dark Meta Knight verbalized for the many in the room that were thinking it. “They know you’ll want to free her and are waiting for you to come to her aid to attack you.”

“So what do you want us to do!?” Lizzy, uncharacteristic anger in her voice, snapped at him. “Just let her get married to that freak!?”

“As much as I hate to agree with him, he has a point,” Meta Knight piped up. “This broadcast is no doubt intended to lure us into a trap.”

“Yeah, but it feels wrong to just leave her…even if she did kill a lot of people,” Thad noted as he rubbed the back of his head. 

“Besides, we could probably take them!” Uzi protested, annoyed at the idea she couldn’t beat someone, even if she did remember that the cult had blindsided her before. 

She was still really pissed about that. 

“You sentimental fools !” Dark Meta Knight roared at the drones, using his wings to get up in Uzi’s face. “Are you really this willing to blunder into a trap you may not escape from!?” Uzi just growled as she pressed her face up to Dark Meta Knight’s mask. 

“Question,” N suddenly piped up, causing everyone to turn to him and defusing the possible fight that was about to begin between two of the most bloodthirsty members of the groups. “Does this Preacher guy throw those big parties from the movies before all his weddings?”

“Yeah. Why?” Dev, who wanted to stay out of the fight, as did his friends, asked. 

“Then why don’t we just go tonight, after they finish partying?” N asked. “Since they think we’ll be coming tomorrow?”

“...That could work,” Kirby realized once N’s words had sunk in. 

“And then we can beat Preacher once we’re all rested and he’s all confused!” Uzi eagerly cheered with several people non verbally agreeing at the idea of destroying Preacher as painfully as possible. 

“Jude can take you,” Dev offered as he nodded to his pilot and friend, who nodded back. “But if I can give you any advice, be stealthy. While Preacher loves his parties, no doubt he’ll make sure at least a few guards stay alert.”

“The Squeaks and I are masters of stealth,” Darorach commented, prompting his fellow Squeaks to all nod. “But we know we’re strangers to her, so perhaps it would be best if one of the drones came with us. We’ll keep all the security and cameras busy while they rescue her.”

“I promised Yeva I’d protect her kid if anything happened to her,” Nori declared as she clenched her fist, hating just how much her near death and self isolation had cost her. “And while I’d hoped my husband would do the same …” Khan had the decency to look sheepish. “I’m not failing Doll this time.”

“Ditto for me,” Uzi agreed as she took her mom’s hand. While she obviously had other things to focus on at the time, she still remembered that Doll’s core was squirming when the Solver ate it, meaning she could have been saved if Uzi had not been freaking out at the time. 

“So I can admit that leaving someone who just lost their parents alone was not smart or morally right…so I guess I’m coming too!” Khan declared as he joined his wife and daughter.

“I’m going too,” Lizzy said firmly. “And I don’t care if I don’t have your freaky robo-satan powers or whatever! The last time I let Doll go off on her own, the thing that gave your freaky powers ate her! I’m not letting her get married to some old weirdo!”

“Just don’t be useless,” Uzi said firmly, already knowing this wasn’t worth a fight when they wanted the same thing. She then turned to the Disassembly trio. “No offense, but I don’t think you guys should come. Don’t really think Doll wants to see you.”

“Trust me, we get it,” An uncharacteristically solemn V said for the group. “I’m…not ready to face her yet either.”

“Just…be safe,” N said. He knew Uzi could handle herself, but it didn’t make him any less nervous. 

“You know I’m probably not going to be,” Uzi replied in a joking tone. 

“Rest up,” Dev suggested to the group planning to go on the mission. “We still have time before Preacher and his followers will be too drunk to fight back. Best to be in the best conditions you can be.”

“ Dolly…we’re coming for you ,” Lizzy swore to herself as she left to go get a snack. She’d failed Doll once. She wasn’t failing her again.

Doll grunted in pain as her collar shocked her after yet another failed attempt to teleport out of her shackles. As the minutes ticked away and her impending marriage came closer, she found herself losing hope. Preacher already made it clear all he wanted from her was her “blessed” code and, if she acted up too much, he’d be happy to dispose of her or worse . 

Doll sighed. At least she’d finally be able to see her parents…if there even was an afterlife for drones. Looking in a nearby mirror, Doll bitterly chuckled. Lizzy would certainly have what to say about the insanely poofy dress and ridiculous up-do hairstyle she’d been forcefully given. Her restraints were even more embarrassing, leaving her dangling from chains, much like a literal doll hanging from its strings.  

Doll closed her eyes. She didn’t want to look at how pathetic she looked. Besides, maybe when she opened them, she’d discover this was all a horrible nightmare. 

“Уходите [Go away]” Doll weakly mumbled, not opening her eyes at the sound of the door opening. 

“Sorry, but we’re here to stop a wedding and kidnapping you is how we’re doing it,” An all too familiar voice said in an amused tone. Doll’s eyes were wide open. It couldn’t be!

“Тетя Нори? [Aunt Nori?]” Doll blinked a couple times. But nothing changed. Nori was back! And she was standing right in front of her! Cyn was telling the truth! She even had her body back!

“Good to see you again, Doll,” Nori said as she used her own Solver powers to remove Doll’s restraints, causing her to collapse into Nori’s arms. Doll knew she could steady herself, but she really wanted physical comfort at the moment. 

“Ugh, do these cultists have any fashion sense!?” Lizzy questioned as she entered the room along with Uzi and Khan. “That is the ugliest dress and hairstyle I have ever seen!” Doll couldn’t help but crack a smile. She was happy to see that Lizzy was the same as ever. 

“Ugh, you can give her a makeover when we get back to the ship!” Uzi groaned before pulling out a can of oil. “Figured you’d be hungry.” Doll promptly lunging and messily slurping the contents of the can proved her point very well, but Doll was too hungry to care. 

“Спасибо [Thank you.]” Doll said as she wiped her mouth. “Они меня почти не кормили. Только чтобы поддерживать во мне жизнь. [They barely fed me. Only enough to keep me alive.]”

“We’ve got some more food back at the base we’ve been hiding out in. Turns out cultist tastes amazing ,” Nori assured her. Doll smiled again at both the idea of more food and not being forced into marriage, but then she remembered that she wasn’t the only one the cult was holding captive. 

“Син и Тесса. С ними все в порядке? [Cyn and Tessa. Are they alright?]” Doll had to ask. “They deserve to be saved more than me” went unsaid. 

“We found Cyn, but we’re still looking for Tessa,” Uzi revealed. Doll nodded at that. Even if it was only Cyn, at least one of them was safe. 

“Uh, I hate to rush things, but we should probably get moving,” Khan piped up. “I know that the Squeak Squad are probably good at what they do, but we’re not that subtle.” Doll wanted to ask just who this “Squeak Squad” was, but she had a feeling she’d learn sooner than later. 

“Agreed, this place is giving me the creeps,” Lizzy said. “Besides, if I have to stare at that stupid hairstyle any longer, I might actually go attack the weirdos myself.”

“Trust me, you aren’t the only one who wants to go fight them right now,” Uzi agreed. “Then again, I really just want to blow their stupid heads off.” Doll found herself chuckling. Nothing truly had changed, had it?

“Прокладывайте путь [Lead the way]” Doll said as she stood up. She still had to lean on Nori for support, but it was mostly because of how hard it was to walk in the dress. While she was annoyed at the fact they weren’t going to kill Preacher right now, she did understand the logic. She wasn’t at full strength and Preacher, from what she had seen, had a lot of soldiers. Besides, they were hinting at having more allies to take on her captor, so Doll was more than fine to wait.

Lizzy idly hummed as she continued to run the brush she’d brought with her through Doll’s hair. Robo- god she’d missed this. Doll’s hair was so much fun to play with! But, for now, Lizzy was content to simply undo the insanely stupid hairstyle the cult weirdos had given Doll. Luckily, they didn’t use hair spray or gel, so it was a matter of simply taking out all the pins holding it up and brushing it.

“Спасибо, Лиззи. [Thank you, Lizzy]” Doll said contently as she let out a purr. “Эта прическа, казалось, разрушила мой процессор. [That hairstyle felt like it was crushing my CPU.]”

“Considering how they piled it, I’m not shocked,” Lizzy said in a mocking tone, but Doll knew there was no malice behind it. As much as they both wanted to just enjoy the moment, they knew they had some important things to talk about. “Ты...все еще злишься на меня?За то, во что я превратила выпускной? [Are you...still mad at me? For what I turned prom into?]”

“...It’s...complicated,” Lizzy admitted, keeping her tone level. “I know I said I’d help and I went back on it-”

“Потому что ты сказал, что Ви горячее меня. [Because you said V was hotter than me.]” Doll interrupted, her tone somewhat annoyed. 

“Eh, you're about equal,” Lizzy flippantly replied. “It was kinda just the first thing I could think of. I know you and V have your whole…thing and I know it’s probably really hard to forgive someone who killed your parents but…I learned things about her. She never wanted to kill anyone. She’s always talking about how she wished she could say sorry to everyone she’s hurt.”

“Я поверю, когда это исходит от нее. [I’ll believe it when it comes from her],” Doll scoffed. In truth, a part of her was jealous. Cyn had told her about V and Lizzy becoming an item. While Doll knew she wasn’t in the best mental state for a relationship, she still had feelings for Lizzy. So knowing she lost the chance to actually date her crush hurt. Especially since it was to the drone she devoted herself to killing. 

“Look Doll,” Lizzy said firmly. “I don’t want to have to pick between my two favorite Murder Babes, so can you at least try to get along with her? Just for me? You don’t have to like her, but just…no…no more murder attempts, please?”

“...Я постараюсь сдержать себя. [...I will try to restrain myself.]” Doll said after a couple seconds, prompting Lizzy to smile. 

“Thanks Dolly,” Lizzy said, her smile getting bigger when she saw the blush markers on Doll’s visors. “By the way, I’m done.” With that, she held up a mirror, allowing Doll to admire herself. Sure, it was just undoing Preacher’s hairstyle, but it was nice to not look as much like a dress up doll anymore. Sure, she still had to deal with the dress, but she already knew there were plenty of spare clothes on the space station. 

“Выглядит отлично. Спасибо еще раз, Лиззи. [It looks great. Thanks again, Lizzy.]” Doll replied with a smile of her own. 

“Hey, just wanted to let you guys know, we’re almost back to base,” Uzi called back to the duo before shrugging. “Not sure if Doll needs any time to mentally prepare or whatever.”

“Спасибо, Узи. [Thank you, Uzi.]” Doll said. In truth, she did need a little time to prepare. Because, on top of meeting a bunch of strangers, Doll knew she was going to have to face V again. 

And, in spite of Lizzy’s request for no violence, she didn’t know how it would go.

Chapter Text

“I am glad you are alright, Doll,” Cyn said as she entered the room Doll had been changing in. Almost as soon as she entered the space station and had some more oil in her systems, Doll had rushed off to get out of the wedding dress she had been forced to wear. One of Dev’s soldiers-Jessie, Doll believed the name to be-had brought her to the room where they kept the spare clothing, with Doll opting for a long brown coat and a hat not unlike the one her father always wore. 

“Я тоже рад тебя видеть, Син. [It is good to see you as well, Cyn.]” Doll greeted the other drone. “Где ты оказался? Проповедник очень мало рассказал мне о том, что стало с тобой и Тессой. [Where did you end up? Preacher told me very little of what became of you and Tessa.]”

“I was sent to the asteroid mines with Crucifix,” Cyn revealed. “They rescued me along with the other miners. I…have not heard where Tessa is being held. But I would not be shocked if Shepard has her.”

Doll nodded grimly at that. She remembered the hate that seemed to burn in Shepard’s eye at the former human. “Боюсь, вы правы. [I’m afraid you might be right.]”

“I am hoping everyone’s enthusiasm about stopping the cult works in our favor,” Cyn admitted. “They beat the Solver once, so I have hope they will be able to save Tessa and defeat Shepard, the cult and the Solver again if needed.”

Doll couldn’t help but smile at that. “Узи действительно хорошо умеет преодолевать трудности, не правда ли? [Uzi is really good at beating the odds, isn’t she?]”

“She is,” Cyn agreed with a smile of her own. She then offered a hand to Doll. “Would you like to meet the rest of the Star Allies? I know you met the Squeak Squad, but the others are just as interesting.”

“Они кажутся…интересными. [They seem…interesting.]” Doll admitted as she took Cyn’s hand, allowing herself to be led out of the room. 

“You have no idea,” Cyn said simply.

When Cyn said Doll would have no idea what to expect with the Star Allies, Doll had believed she was at least slightly exaggerating. 

Yeah, no . 

While the Squeaks were still weird, they were still an animal Doll had seen pictures of before. Other members of the Star Allies were just beyond strange. Nothing Doll had ever seen, pictures or otherwise, came close to some of them. 

And that wasn’t even considering the fact that an honest to robo-god human was a member of the team. 

“Adeleine is not like the ones who hurt your mother,” Cyn had assured her. “She was a friend of Tessa.”

“Это не то [It’s not that.]” Doll replied. “Это просто...сюрреалистично [It’s just…surreal.]”

“You should have seen everyone’s reactions when I first revealed her true species,” Cyn said with an amused chuckle. “The Star Allies did not even know she was human. Apparently, they all believed them to be extinct.”

“Я тоже [So did I.]” Doll pointed out. “По крайней мере, пока я не был сбит с толку Решателем. Но... Аделайн — это просто случайность... или есть еще люди? [At least until I was confused by the Solver. But…is Adeleine just a fluke…or are there more humans out there?]”

“I do not know,” Cyn replied. “I…do not want to think about that. Adeleine is nice, but not all of them were like that.”

“Я до сих пор помню рассказы моей матери, [I still remember my mother’s stories,]” Doll admitted as she clenched her fists. Thinking about those stories was causing her to think of her own captivity at Preacher’s hands…

“Follow me,” Cyn said suddenly, snapping Doll back into focus. “You need what I am going to show you.” Doll said nothing, but followed after the smaller drone. Cyn, for her part, led Doll into another room, where a small pink ball-like creature was chatting with one of Dev’s drones. “Hello Kirby.”

“Oh hey Cyn!” The pink ball-Kirby-greeted her. “This is Doll, right?”

“Yes,” Cyn replied as she knelt to Kirby’s level. “She needs a hug from you.”

“No problem!” Kirby replied as he allowed Cyn to pick him up. Doll barely had any time to react before Kirby was handed to her. 

“Что за- [What the-]” Doll was about to ask what the point of having Kirby hug her only to notice just how soft he was. Kirby then nuzzled deep into Doll’s chest and started purring. 

“See what I mean?” Cyn teasingly asked. Doll, however, was too busy enjoying the puffball’s affection to care. Kirby was going to live in her arms now. She didn’t care if anyone needed him. Kirby was hers now. Doll’s only movement was to sit down, making it easier to keep her grip on him. 

“Comfortable?” Nori asked in a teasing tone as she walked into the room. 

“ Мой [ Mine .]” Doll said threateningly as she pulled Kirby closer into her chest. 

“Don’t worry, I’m not here to take him from you,” Nori assured her as she sat down. Cyn seemed to sense what was coming was an important conversation and opted to leave. “But I did want to talk. About…when we all go home.” Doll said nothing, giving Nori the signal to keep talking. “When you and Uzi were still pill babies, your mom and I promised each other that if anything ever happened to us, we’d look after each other’s kids…obviously Khan’s was too wrapped up in his own issues but…I wanna fix that.”

“Что вы говорите? [What are you saying?]” Doll asked, her voice betraying the hope she didn’t want to let herself feel. 

“I know you’re basically an adult now, but…if you’re willing to accept it, I’d be happy to take you in,” Nori explained as she placed a hand on Doll’s shoulder, slowly moving it to her cheek and causing Doll to nuzzle into the touch. She’d been alone for so long…

“[I…I’d like that.]” Doll managed out after a couple seconds, not even bothering to fight the tears forming on her visor. She wouldn’t be alone…and not only that, she finally had a family again! Sure, they’d never replace her parents, but it was still a good feeling. One that Doll was sure nothing would ruin.

“...Hey…”

“Привет [Hello,]”

“OMRG, you aren’t gonna get anywhere if you don’t say anything to each other!” Lizzy snapped at the duo. Shortly after Doll ( very reluctantly) let go of Kirby so they could get some more comfortable rest than sleeping on the floor, Lizzy had all but dragged her over to V so they could “make up”.

It was about as awkward as it sounded. 

Finally, after a few seconds of planning what she wanted to say, V let out a sigh. “Look Doll, I understand that you have every right to be mad at me and hate me and I know that this probably won’t change anything but…I’m sorry. Again, I know it means nothing coming from me, but your parents sounded awesome and I wish I wasn’t such a coward so they’d still be alive!”

“...Трус? [...Coward?]” Doll, once she processed everything V had said, questioned. Out of every word to describe V, coward wasn’t one Doll would have used. 

“Yes. Coward,” V replied, clear shame in her voice. “...The Solver, when it turned me into…this…” V then gestured to herself. “...It didn’t wipe my memories. I remembered everything . I could have told N what was happening…but I was too scared of the Solver torturing me further.” V then let out a bitter chuckle. “And then it turned out the Solver wasn’t so invincible after all.”

“...Никто не верил, что Решателя можно победить… [...No one believed the Solver was beatable…]” Doll couldn’t help but point out after a couple seconds. “Мы все были напуганы. [We were all afraid.]”

“...We were…” V said, still unable to look Doll in the eyes. “Honestly, even during that fight, I still wasn’t sure we could win until Uzi finally ate that core. But we’re getting off topic.”

“Мы. [We are.]” Doll agreed. In truth, she hadn’t even noticed. Was she actually…sympathizing with her parents’ killer? The drone she’d sworn to kill no matter what? But, then again, Doll supposed that she never had the full story. No one did. “...Я не уверен, что я чувствую по поводу... всего. Но Лиззи просила меня не ссориться с тобой. [...I’m not sure how I feel about…everything. But Lizzy asked me not to fight with you.]” 

“Funny…she asked me the same thing,” V admitted, causing Lizzy to smile proudly. This, in turn, caused Doll and V to smile at her antics. 

“...Мне нужно идти, [...I need to go,]” Doll said suddenly before rushing off. Her head was a rush of conflicting emotions. Her pre-existing rage clashed with the new found sympathy and even connections she now felt for V. What was wrong with her!? Doll, more than ever, wished her parents were still alive or at least that Kirby was still around to hug again. But the former were still very dead and the latter was sleeping with the pink fairy. It was adorable and so Doll didn’t want to bother him. 

“Er…you are Doll, right?” A voice from behind Doll asked. Turning around, Doll saw a strange spider-like creature standing (floating?) behind her. 

“Да, это я. [Yes, that’s me.]” Doll replied. She was pretty sure he was one of the Star Allies Cyn had introduced her to but that was a bit of a blur if she was being honest. “А ты… Таранза, да? [And you are…Taranza, right?]”

“Yes, that would be me,” Taranza replied as he did a little bow. Doll wasn’t sure how he (or any of the Star Allies, really) could understand her, but opted not to ask about it. “I was actually getting ready to go to sleep but I saw you running off, so I wanted to ask if you were okay.”

“Я не бежал. [I wasn’t running.]” Doll said almost instantly.

“Of course,” Taranza said, deciding this wasn’t worth a fight. “But I noticed you seemed…confused. Perhaps I could speak to you about it?”

“...Вы не поймете. [...You wouldn’t get it.]” Doll said as she looked at her feet. 

“Well…not when you don’t tell me anything,” Taranza replied. Doll sighed. She didn’t want to talk about it with someone she barely knew. But at the same time, she knew talking might be helpful.

“А...Ви рассказывал тебе о нашей вражде? [Did...V tell you about our feud?]” Doll asked as she sat down, motioning for Taranza to do the same. 

“Lizzy actually gave most of the details,” Taranza revealed as he sat next to Doll. “V…translated it? I guess? I’m not sure if some of the stuff Lizzy said were even words.”

Doll couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “Сленг Лиззи многих сбил с толку. [Lizzy’s slang has confused many.]”

Taranza nodded before turning serious. “But I wanted to talk to you for a reason and it does relate to your story. Because if I’m right…we might have similar experiences. Both in our past and now.”

Doll optics went wide at that. “Как же так? [How so?]”

“Before Zan, I had another lover. Her name was Sectonia,” Taranza began, his voice becoming rather nostalgic sounding. “It was love at first sight between us. We did everything together and I was willing to do anything to make her happy.” His face then turned somber. “But that same trait ended up spelling the end of our romance…and her life. I found a mirror and gave it to her as a gift. But what I didn’t realize was that the mirror was corrupted…and that it would end up corrupting her . Gone was the once kind queen I knew. In its place was a cruel and vain husk. But I naively clung to the idea that she was still in there.” Taranza let out a bitter chuckle. “Then she tried to kill me. So…I helped Kirby and King Dedede put her out of her misery.”

“Мне очень жаль, [I am so sorry,]” Doll earnestly replied once Taranza had finished. “Но…какое отношение это имеет к моей истории? [But…what does that have to do with my story?]”

“I was getting there,” Taranza assured her. “When Kirby summoned all of us Star Allies for the first time, I met the person who corrupted the mirror-Dark Meta Knight. I was so ready to hate him for taking Sectonia away from me. But…then I got to know him. Not just as the person who helped take Sectonia away, but as someone who was a person of his own. A person with a lot of regrets. He meant no harm and regretted everything he did, even indirectly. Learning all that…it made revenge feel unfair. So…I let it go. I didn’t forgive right away and I’ll certainly never forget but…letting it go lets you heal. Let’s you move on. And I think you were having similar thoughts about V and how to move forward with her.”

“Я-[I-]” As much as Doll didn’t want to admit it, Taranza read her like an open book. “Даже если вы отпустите это…прекратится ли боль? [Even once you let it go…does the pain ever stop?]”

Taranza sighed again. “No…I still miss Sectonia everyday and a part of me still wants to hurt Dark Meta Knight for what he did, even if it was indirect and he regretted letting her die. But…if you just let your rage fester, you’re not gonna be happy and you’ll just push people away. And at that point…what good is revenge? But I guess what I’m trying to say is…” Taranza placed a hand on Doll’s shoulder. “I think your parents would want you to move on and focus on defeating the being that ruined all of your lives.” For a few seconds, Doll was silent. Suddenly, she lunged forwards and wrapped Taranza in a massive hug. Taranza was briefly shocked, but wasted no time hugging back. 

And while neither could see it, three figures were smiling down on both of them. 

Chapter Text

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE’S MISSING!?” Preacher bellowed at his followers. Following a party worthy of the great Absolute Solver, Preacher was looking forward to yet another wedding to a bride with powerful code. Only there was one problem. 

Said bride was now MISSING!

“We don’t know what happened, Preacher!” One of his minions frantically babbled. “We didn’t find any evidence of a break in, but her collar was all that was left!”

Preacher growled. He should have known her heretic friends would find a way to avoid his trap! He just hoped Shepard didn’t learn about this…

BOOM!

“Sir! We’re under attack!” Another minion exclaimed as he rushed in, stumbling as the building shook yet again. 

“Who would dare?!” Preacher snapped, even though the answer was fairly obvious. “Stop the heretics from getting in here!”

“But what about you?” One of his guards asked in concern for his boss. 

“I will…prepare my own defense,” Preacher said cryptically. None of his guards questioned anything as they rushed out of the wedding chambers. Preacher, once everyone was gone, left for his personal room. It was as neat as he had left it, meaning it was easy for him to find his most dangerous weapon. 

A small USB. 

“If they get to me…” Preacher said to himself as he toyed with the USB. He then grinned. 

“...Then I’ll show them all the might of the great Shepard and his devotion to our savior!”

“Eat railgun freaks!” Uzi cackled as she fired her trusty sick as hell railgun at some attacking cultists, obliterating them with ease. She would have kept shooting, but there was always the charge time. “You’d think I’d have figured this out by now.”

“Once this is over, I would be glad to assist you with that,” Susie said as she used her business suit to swat away even more drones. Pretty much everyone, drone and Star Ally alike, wanted to take a shot at Preacher and while it was a tight squeeze in the stolen ship they were using to get along, no one cared. 

Tearing apart cultists was a great way to get one’s oil/blood/whatever fluids Gooey had pumping. 

“Seriously!?” Uzi asked eagerly. 

“You did help save my life. I owe you plenty ,” Susie replied assuringly. “But let’s wait until we’ve dealt with these cultists, alright?”

Uzi grinned just as eagerly. “Sounds good to me!” With that, both girls shook hands before charging back into the fray.

“You doing okay, Cyn?” N asked as he landed next to his surrogate younger sister. When Cyn mentioned wanting to come on the mission to defeat Preacher, everyone was surprised. Cyn, being the first host of the Solver, was not fond of violence or her own Solver powers. Still, she considered Doll a friend and wanted to help her defeat her own captor. 

“I am doing okay,” Cyn assured him as she used the Solver to lift up a large crate and slam it onto some nearby drones. “While I do not enjoy my powers, I am content to use them on people that are truly deserving.”

“Isn’t that just the way?” Marx cackled as he summoned a small black hole, sucking a large ground of attacking cultists in. “Even if you don’t like your powers, use ‘em to kick bad guy butt!”

“Marx, don’t you like your powers?” Rick asked as he switched from his boulder form, Coo having just dropped him on top of a group of cultists. 

“Well, duh , but I’m trying to get in my weekly ‘act of kindness with no strings attached’,” Marx explained as he vomited up some beach balls onto another unfortunate guard. 

“Marx, none of your acts of kindness come without something attached,” Kine piped up in a deadpan tone. 

“Hey, you don’t have to give my secrets away!” Marx snapped. “The kid likes me!”

“You need better standards,” Coo deadpanned to both Cyn and N. 

“Uh…I never really hung out with Marx,” N piped up as he fired a missile behind him, blowing up a group of attempted attackers. 

“Then consider this a warning, mate,” Rick said. 

“Killjoys,” Marx grumbled. Cyn and N, for their parts, just shared an awkward look before going back to fending off their attackers. Even if Marx was chaotic, he was still helping them and he did help with Cyn’s own doubts, so they could just let bygones be bygones. At least until Marx turned his chaotic antics towards them . 

They’d heard Magolor shouting about Marx “ruining the Lor Starcutter’s calibration for the fifth time this month!” from the other end of the space station, so they certainly knew what he could do.

“Fore!” Dedede called out as he batted a decapitated drone head into another drone, knocking them down. The drone tried to get back to their feet, but Meta Knight was quicker on the draw, running them through with his sword. “Aw, thanks Mety Knight!”

“We’ve talked about that nickname, especially when we are on a mission,” Meta Knight grumbled, only to let out a surprised squeak when Dedede scooped him up. 

“I’m your king! I can do what I want!” Dedede happily declared. “Besides, if Magolor and Susie can’t keep their hands off each other, and if Daroach and Taranza can use pet names, then I can do all that stuff too!”

“You should have known what you were getting into~” Kirby teasingly said to the knight, who merely huffed and looked away. 

“Does anyone know where Preacher is?” Bandanna Waddle Dee asked as he rained spears down onto a small group of guards, who were trying their best to defend themselves. 

“Not yet,” Magolor said as he teleported over. “Doll thinks he’s hiding inside.”

“Then let’s get moving!” Dedede declared as he swung his hammer, knocking away a small group of drones while keeping his grip on his boyfriend. 

“Could you at least put me down?” Meta Knight asked. 

“Nope!” Dedede instantly responded while both Kirby and Bandanna Waddle Dee snickered, causing Meta Knight to sigh.

“Aw yeah! Eat fire freaks!” Flamberge cackled as she launched herself towards, flaming shooting from her sword being dragged behind her. 

“You’re talking my language!” Levi agreed as he knocked down one of the survivors of Flamberge’s flames. 

“There’s two of them…” Zan and Dev couldn’t help but sigh. 

“Let your sister have her fun, Zan,” Hyness playfully chastised Zan. “She doesn’t get to flex her muscles much anymore. Let her be jhappy.”

“I think she’s just worried,” Francisca piped up. “She was knocked down by Crucifix pretty painfully.”

“Jes, jes, I know,” Hyness replied. “But let her have her fun. These grunts are not challenges for us.”

“Probably helps that they're still a little drunk!” Lucy couldn’t help but taunt as she used her blaster to shoot a hapless guard. “I’m happy you guys are around! So awesome we can finally start fighting back! I know Jude’s just waiting to bomb this place to dust once we’re done.”

“You’ve all been waiting a very long time for this, haven’t you?” Francisca couldn’t help but say. 

“Yeah! We hate them for what they did to us and our friends!” Jessie, ever the cheerful one, explained as she caved in a nearby drone’s head with what was likely a fire axe. 

“Given what we learned about them, I don’t blame you,” Zan assured them. “I don’t think any of us do.”

“Then let’s get back to smashing!” Levi eagerly cheered. 

“Yeah! Let’s burn ‘em all!” Flamberge cheered. This time, Zan just rolled her eyes, but charged forward all the same. Skewering a drone on her spear, Zan couldn’t help but chuckle. Hyness was right. It had been far too long since she got a good chance to flex her fighting skills. Sure, spars were good, but getting a real chance to fight was an amazing feeling. 

She just hoped no one did anything reckless.

Doll did her best to steady her shaking hands. After taking out all of Preacher’s guards and minions, but having yet to find the drone himself, everyone realized he was likely still inside his home. While Doll wanted to see Preacher dead, the idea of facing the person who wanted to forcibly marry and breed with her was somehow making her more nervous than the idea of facing the Solver. 

“Doll? You okay?” Thad asked as he came up behind her. “You look really freaked out.”

“Я в порядке [I’m fine]” Doll knew she said that too quickly, but still hoped he’d buy it. 

“Ugh, are you still on the ‘I’m going to brood by myself’ thing?” Uzi groaned. “C’mon! You saw how to beat the Solver! As lame as it is, working together makes it easy to take these freaks down!”

“What Uzi is trying to say is that you don’t have to hide your feelings anymore,” Nori said, placing a hand on Doll’s shoulders. 

“We’re here for you now,” Khan chimed in as he put his own hand on Doll’s other shoulder. 

“...Это глупо. Но я напуган. Я боюсь столкнуться с дроном, который хотел использовать меня как кодового раба… [...It’s stupid. But I’m scared. Scared to face the drone that wanted to use me as a code slave…]” Doll trailed off, doing her best to keep from crying as she thought about what Preacher wanted to do to her, as she clenched her still shaking hands. Behind her, Lizzy wrapped her arms around Doll, placing her head on Doll’s shoulder. 

“Dolly, it’s okay to be nervous about this weirdo…:” Lizzy began. “I don’t even want to think about what that freak did or wanted to do to you. But we’re here. And we’re going to keep you safe this time.”

“And that goes for us too,” Taranza declared as he came over, giving Doll a warm smile, Doll returning it after a few seconds. 

“Давайте сделаем это [Let’s do it.]” Doll said with a nod. J then took aim at the door, blowing it off the hinges. Inside was a mockery of a wedding setup…with Preacher standing at the altar. 

“So…my bride has returned…” Preacher said as he gave everyone a creepy smile. Almost instantly, Doll summoned a few knives and several people stepped in front of her. 

“She’s not here to marry you!” N snapped at Preacher, keeping his guns aimed at Preacher. 

“I think you know how this is gonna go…” V said menacingly as she extended her claws. 

“Oh I do…” Preach said ominously as he pulled out the USB. “But I don’t think you do! You see, before we got our savior, we tried to recreate them. To give ourselves their gifts. And now…I will use it to defeat your heretics!” 

“Don’t-” Someone called out, but Preacher shoved the USB into the back of his head. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then Preacher began screaming in pain, beginning to violently thrash around as various limbs made of both flesh and metal began to tear their way out of Preacher’s casing. Several people began to back away. While no one had any sympathy for Preacher, that didn’t make the scene in front of them any less horrible. 

“...They can not even control a knock off,” Cyn said in a hollow voice. “We can not let them awaken the real Solver.”

“Sounds good to me…” Uzi said with a numb nod, eyes still locked on the horrific scene in front of her. Finally, the screaming had stopped, but the horror hadn’t. Limbs stuck out at odd angles and places. Preacher’s visor had [Fatal Error] on it, but the body took a step forwards before suddenly lashing out with several of the longer limbs, forcing everyone to quickly dodge. 

“I don’t like this…” Ribbon said nervously as she clutched the crystal gun nervously. The other Star Allies, who only had an idea of the Solver powers from watching Uzi, Nori, Cyn or Doll or stories from the drones, were all horrified. Seeing how horrific the Solver’s corruption was, even just from a fake, left everyone terrified of what was to come if they didn’t stop Shepard. The drones, on the other hand, realized just how close the creature that lived rent free in their nightmares was to returning to haunt them. It was an unspoken agreement between everyone that now, failure was no longer an operation. Otherwise, they didn’t want to know what someone who wasn’t actively resisting its madness would do with the Solver’s powers. 

“Kirby, you want some fire because I’m burning this freak to a crisp!” Flamberge called out as she slashed at one of what used to be Preacher’s tendrils. 

“If he doesn’t want it, I do!” Dedede chimed in as he bashed Preacher away. He tried to stand up, but was briefly stopped by a hail of bullets from V. To her dismay, however, Preacher barely seemed to flinch, seemingly uncaring by all the holes in his frames. 

“Is he even alive?!” Thad exclaimed in shock. “That would have put down any drone!”

“I do not think Preacher is in there anymore,” Cyn chimed in nervously. “That is just the fake Solver.”

“Тогда давайте уберем его, как бездушного монстра, каким он является. [Then let’s put him down like the unfeeling monster he is,]” Doll said firmly as she took a step forward, holding her knife at Preacher. “Время для развода! [Time for a divorce!]” Preacher’s head tilted a little before a few of his limbs shot at her. Using her own Solver, Doll hurled her knives at them, managing to sever them fairly easily with some of the others setting those on fire just to be safe. 

“East chair freak!” Uzi called out as she used her own Solver to hurl a bench from the pews at Preacher. He tried to block but the force still knocked him away. Uzi grinned smugly, but was slapped away by a claw she hadn’t seen coming. “Where did that come from!?”

“Preacher’s body summons more limbs the more we cut off!” N revealed as he cut another of said limbs away. 

“Then I guess we’ll have to completely destroy him!” Nori said eagerly. 

“I have an idea!” Hyness announced, even raising his hand. “If everyone who has a cannon or a laser all blast him, we could probably destroy him completely!”

“Aw yeah! I love it!” Flamberge agreed. 

“No argument from me!” Uzi agreed. 

“Mass destruction! Let’s do it!” Marx eagerly exclaimed, even doing a little flip in the air. The other Star Allies who planned to join on this massive attack - Zan, Magolor and Daroach - were less enthusiastic, but still knew what they needed to do. However, whether due to Hyness shouting or because of somehow being able to tell, Preacher seemed aware of the plan trying to charge them only to get tripped up by another of Doll’s blades. 

“Нет. Ты мой. [No. You are mine.]” Doll snarled. Preacher’s head seemed to tilt once again, before he suddenly charged. Doll’s eyes widened and she braced for impact, only for V to suddenly kick Preacher away. He tried to stand, only for Lizzy to stop on his head. 

“Lizzy, what are you doing?!” V exclaimed. “That freak could tear you apart!”

“Then deal with the arms and creepy stuff while I hold it down so they can vaporize it!” Lizzy snapped at them. “I’m not letting you two get hurt when I can do something about it!” V and Doll decided not to debate with her, instead opting to sever as many limbs as they could, keeping Preacher from throwing Lizzy off. They could scold her later. 

“Don’t just stand there! Help them!” Nori called out to everyone, who went back on attack. Preacher was summoning limbs as fast he could, but everyone was cutting them away as fast they could. 

“We’re all fully charged! Get clear!” Magolor warned, hands full of magic. No one had to be told twice, jumping or diving out of the way. Preacher only managed to lift his head up before he was struck by all six lasers. When the dust settled, there was nothing left of Preacher other than a pile of dust with the USB sitting on time. The USB didn’t last much longer as Doll stomped on it, shattering it into pieces. 

“Это было...удовлетворительно [That was…satisfying.]” Doll said with a smile. 

“Sorry you didn’t get to vaporize him,” Uzi replied with a matching smile. Behind them, V gave Lizzy a little shove. 

“Don’t do something that stupid again,” V warned her girlfriend. 

“A thank you would be nice,” Lizzy snarkily replied as she went back on her phone like nothing happened. V rolled her eyes as Doll came over to her. 

“Ты привыкаешь к этому. [You get used to it.]” Doll assured her old enemy. 

“And here I was thinking N would be the one with his hands full…” V groaned, prompting Doll to chuckle. Maybe she could get used to this.

Chapter Text

Dev tried to repress a sigh. After letting everyone rest for a bit, he had announced he and his team had figured how to deal with the second shield generator and asked who wanted to come. And while the group of people he got was rather strong…

It was pretty much all couples. 

Kirby and Ribbon. Meta Knight and King Dedede. DMK and Daroach. Magolor and Susie. Taranza and Zan. Uzi and N. Khan and Nori. Lizzy, V and Doll (he didn’t care that Doll hadn’t officially joined the relationship. He saw the way Lizzy was eying her up). Everyone coming had a romantic interest in someone else. 

He actually did let out a sigh. At least they could hopefully focus on what was at hand. 

“Alright, so this next generator is a bit more complex than the last one,” Dev began as he nodded to Jude, who pulled up a photo of the generator building. “We managed to do a bit more research on this place and learned that the defenses are a lot different from the first one. Namely, there’s fake generators all over the building and we won’t know which is which unless we can destroy them all.”

“Perfect! We can spread out!” N eagerly declared as he wrapped an arm around Uzi. “Uzi and I can go together!”

“Guess the couples are grouping up!” Kirby said with a smile. Everyone else seemed perfectly okay with that idea, much to Dev's dismay. 

“Just…try to stay focused,” Dev all but begged. 

“Aw, what’s wrong boss?” Jude piped up. “You jealous you don’t have anyone yet?”

“Shut up Jude…” Dev just groaned, causing several people to snicker at his dismay. 

“Not how I wanted our next date to go, but hey! Could be fun!” N, ever the oblivious one, cheerfully piped up as he pulled Uzi closer to him, causing the smaller drone to blush in surprise and Dev to sigh again. This was going to be a long mission…

“Been a while since we got to work together like this, huh Ribbon?” Kirby said to his partner for the mission. Sure, his relationship wasn’t something as serious as Meta Knight and Dedede’s or Uzi and N’s, but he’d still consider Ribbon to be something akin to a girlfriend. 

“Uh…yeah,” Ribbon said unsurely as she hugged the crystal gun to her chest. 

“You okay, Ribbon?” Kirby asked in concern. 

“It’s just…these guys are so scary!” Ribbon exclaimed, clutching the crystal gun even closer. “I know we’ve fought cults before but even Hyness never did stuff as freaky as what Preacher wanted to do!”

“That’s all the more reason we’ve gotta make sure we beat these guys!” Kirby assured her. “It’s the same reason we fight all the bad guys that try to hurt people! Doesn’t matter if they’re Dark Matter, robots or anything in between! We’re the Star Allies!”

In spite of her nerves, Ribbon couldn’t help but smile. Kirby always managed to calm her down with his encouragement. “Y-You’re right, Kirby! I guess it’s just…scary. I mean, I know we’ve fought stuff like Dark Matter and Void Termina but if a fake version of that Solver thing did…. that stuff to Preacher…what’s the real one like?”

Kirby froze at that. While they knew a decent amount about the Absolute Solver from the drones, if what happened to Preacher was any sign, then the real Solver was…

Well it was its own beast. And it was something Kirby would do anything to make sure it would never rise to terrorize anyone ever again. 

“I don’t know,” Kirby had to admit. “But I know that if we all work together, then the Solver will never come back!”

“...Hopefully you’re right,” Ribbon agreed, trying to sound as cheerful as possible. She was still nervous Kirby was keeping her much more at ease. “We didn’t give up before! And we can’t stop now!”

“That’s the spirit!” Kirby replied as he and Ribbon entered another room, where a generator-like device stood. “Oh hey! Guess we found one of the generators! I don’t have a copy ability, so do you want to do the honors?”

“Sure!” Ribbon replied as she took aim and began to bombard the generator with crystals. Both were admittedly a bit surprised that there was no shield or any type of defense, but they were not complaining.

“You know Nori,” Khan began as he and Nori walked down a rather open hallway. “This is reminding me of one of our first dates.”

“Sap,” Nori playfully mocked her husband. “But you do have a point.” The date in question was shortly after the core collapse and once they were sure all the humans were gone. Nori, who had yet to begin getting her nightmares/visions of the Solver’s plot, had been eager to explore and had dragged Khan to explore what the humans had once used as an apartment building. It was creepy, but Khan got to spend time with the drone he loved, so how could he complain?

“Halt! Intrud-GAH!” A random guard called out as he tried to stop the couple, only to get beheaded by Nori’s Solver. 

“Of course, there weren’t any annoying creeps on that date,” Nori couldn’t help but comment as she took a sip of oil from the fallen drone’s head. 

“Well this was never going to top our date!” Khan said awkwardly. He then sighed. “Look Nori. I know you’re worried-”

“Khan, they think they can control the Solver,” Nori interrupted her husband, a hardened look on her face. “That’s what the humans who experimented on me and Yeva thought. And look how that turned out.”

“I know Nori,” Khan said as he pulled her into a hug. “But this time, we’re ready for it. Even if these freaks manage to set it free, us and the Star Allies aren’t going to let anyone else.”

“It’s just…it hurt our family, Khan,” Nori pointed out, her voice cracking. “Even if we do beat it…who’s to say that won’t happen again?”

“It won’t,” Khan said firmly. “Uzi’s strong and so are her friends. They won’t let themselves get hurt. The only things that are going to be getting hurt are Shepard and the Solver.”

Nori smirked at that. “If I have anything to say about it, they’re going to be getting a lot worse than hurt .”

Now it was Khan’s turn to smirk. “That’s my wife. And hey! Look what we found!” He then pointed to a generator-like device a short ways ahead of them.

“I’ve got a way to break it. Mind if I see your shield?” Nori asked. Khan, even if he didn’t know what his wife was planning, wasted no time in handing it over. With a manic grin, Nori used her Solver to turn the shield into a buzzsaw, sawing the generator apart. Khan just smiled as he watched it. He loved Nori’s chaos. 

“Zan? Are you alright?” Taranza asked as he floated behind her. He’d noticed how tense she’d been ever since they dealt with Preacher. One could claim it was just stress from the adventure they were on, but Taranza knew his girlfriend. It was something he prided himself on. 

“...When you battled with us, when we were trying to awaken Void Termina, were we this horrible?” Zan asked after a few seconds, Taranza’s eyes widening as she spoke. 

“What? No!” Taranza said frantically. He then took a breath. Zan was worried and it would be better if he was calm while he explained. “While you, your sisters and Hyness did try to release a monster, you never sunk to the depths of what is happening here! All of Hyness’ followers joined him willingly and even his attempts to release Void Termina was because of his insanity.”

“That may be so…” Zan trailed off as she tightly gripped her spear. “But that doesn’t change what we did and how similar it is to Shepard’s own goals.”

“But you changed!” Taranza insisted as he grabbed Zan’s hands. He took another breath as he gave Zan a soft smile. “You were never a bad person, Zan. Just loyal and misled. Shepard might claim to be wanting revenge, but he just wants to hurt others. It’s why he let his minions hurt Cyn and Doll. Why they hurt Dev’s friends. All he wants is to see others suffer. Maybe HYness was once like that too, but it was the depths of madness. Shepard…” Taranza shook his head. “Well he’s clearly not all there, but I have the feeling that even if he was sane, he would be just as cruel.”

Under her collar, Zan flashed a smile of his own. “I…suppose that’s correct. But it’s weird to see a plot not unlike Hyness’ own just…somehow more vile. It’s almost humorous in a dark way.”

“...I suppose that it is one way to look at things,” Taranza said, just happy to see his girlfriend in better spirits. Before he could say anything else, Zan surprised him with a kiss, letting out a giggle at Taranza’s surprised expression. 

“I suppose we should get moving,” Zan said in amusement as she headed down another hallway, letting Taranza stumble for a bit before he snapped out of his shock. By the time he did, the sound of a lightning strike, followed by an explosion, carried down the hall, causing him to smile again.

“Ya know Uzi, I feel like we end up in dark tunnels hunting for bad guys a lot,” N couldn’t help but not as he and Uzi wandered down yet another hallway. 

“And they all tie back to the Solver!” Uzi grumbled. “Ugh, if I wanted to explore tunnels I could just go to the abandoned parts of the bunkers!”

“Yeah but we wouldn’t get to meet the Star Allies if we didn’t explore this stuff!” N cheerfully replied. He then remembered something that he’d been curious about since he learned about it. “Hey Uzi? How did these guys catch you?”

Uzi flinched before sighing. She could trust N, right? “...Don't say anything to anyone else?”

“How come?” N asked all too innocently. 

“Because it’s embarrassing!” She whined. “I got cocky because I had the Solver and spent too much time not killing them! Then they just dropped an EMP on me and now we’re all in this mess!”

“Aw, Uzi!” N pulled his girlfriend into a hug. “Nothing you do could be embarrassing to me! And everyone makes mistakes so what’s the problem?”

“The problem is that now the Solver is in the hands of these cult freaks!” Uzi pointed out as she rubbed her temples. 

“Yeah, but we’ve got all our friends to help us!” N pointed out. “And besides! We beat the Solver when it was just you, me and V! With everyone else with us, there’s no chance we lose!”

As much as she wanted to stay grumpy, Uzi couldn’t help but smile. Why was N so good at cheering her up!? “Just wish we didn’t have to deal with again,”

“Hey! That just means we get to be awesome and beat it again!” N cheerfully insisted. 

“Heh heh…” Uzi snickered. She’d never thought about it like that. “Oh, we’re gonna be so cool now that we know how to beat it!” N smiled, but his own face soon took on a sad expression. 

“Hey Uzi? Do you…do you think Tessa misses me?” He had to ask. Sure, he had all his good memories with her, but it had been so long and Tessa had probably seen him do some horrible things…

Uzi let out a laugh, startling N a little. “C’mon N! You really need to ask that? Sure, Tessa probably did see you do some really bad stuff, but you’re you! As if someone could ever hate you! And from what it sounds like, you guys were pretty much her only friends, so if she doesn’t miss you guys, then something is wrong.”

“Aw, thanks Uzi” N gushed as he pulled Uzi into yet another hug. He then took notice of something up ahead. “Oh hey look! A generator! He then rushed right over to it, not caring that he still had Uzi in his arms. 

“Ah! Hey! N! Put me down!”

“I’m surprised you didn’t bring your minions,” Dark Meta Knight noted as he and Daroach stalked their way down yet another hallway. 

“And miss a chance for some solo time with you, my love?” Daroach asked with a chuckle as he placed a claw under Dark Meta Knight’s chin…or at least what he assumed was his chin. “You really don’t know me very well, do you?” Dark Meta Knight huffed, but said nothing. 

“Let’s…just get moving…” The mirror clone grumbled as he pulled himself away. Daroach merely chuckled again as he followed DMK. As they walked, however, Daroach could sense something was off. Sure his boyfriend was always rather grumpy and closed off, but he was brooding more than usual. 

“Are you alright?” Daroach had to ask. “I can tell you are tense.”

“...Why are you so good at telling my feelings?” Dark Meta Knight grumbled, answering Daroach without intending too. Daroach responded by teleporting in front of him, stopping him from continuing on. 

“Because I love you,” Daroach said simply. Dark Meta Knight was grateful for his mask. It meant Daroach couldn’t see his blushing. “So I want to help you feel more at ease if I can.”

Dark Meta Knight huffed again, but still found himself opening up. “I have been dwelling on these cultists. Their leader in particular. His behavior is…far too familiar for me.”

Daroach nodded in understanding. “His cruelty reminds you of your old master, doesn’t it?”

“Yes…and it only enrages me that we cannot confront that fiend yet!” DMK snapped as he slashed an unfortunate guard drone to ribbons. 

“Then I suppose we should continue so we can hopefully find the generator,” Daroach offered. Once his words’ registered, DMK smirked under his mask and wasted no time in heading off. Daroach smirked as well as he followed after his boyfriend. It didn’t take long to find one of the generators. Daroach couldn’t help but chuckle at Dark Meta Knight wasting no time in slashing it to bits. 

Shepard better be ready for them.

“You know, I feel like we should really stop hunting for creations of the ancients,” Magolor said in an awkward attempt at a joke to break the tension and silence he and Susie were dealing with. Everything just felt wrong… “Everything seems to either be evil or turn evil.”

“Magolor, you are not helping,” Susie hissed at him, causing him to flinch and her to sigh. “...Sorry. Just-”

“I hit a nerve, right?” Magolor replied with a sigh of his own. “Yeah, I realized how stupid that was. Just…wasn’t thinking.”

“I feel like that’s a pattern with you,” Susie playfully taunted her boyfriend, although her voice was clearly playful. 

“Oh c’mon!” Magolor protested as he threw his hands up. “Marx already rips on me enough about the whole Master Crown thing! I can’t believe my own girlfriend is betraying me!”

Susie merely chuckled as she playfully flicked her boyfriend’s head. “Don’t compare me to him. Otherwise, no cuddles.”

“You’re so mean!” Magolor jokingly protested. Susie simply chuckled again in response. While he tried to pretend to still be annoyed, Magolor was pleased to see Susie was in better spirits after his very poorly thought out joke. “Still…we do have really bad luck with this stuff, huh?”

“I’d say Kirby has more bad luck than us specifically,” Susie pointed out. “But, while your joke was poorly thought out, you do have a point. Every time anyone we know has discovered something that the ancients made or discovered, at best, it ends…poorly.”

“I feel like that’s an understatement,” Magolor couldn’t help but note. “Although…we did get to meet the drones. Actually, it’s still crazy that Adeleine has been an ancient this whole time! Like, obviously, my relationship with the ancients isn’t…great after the thing with the Master Crown but…it’s still insane . It makes you wonder if…”

“If there are any other humans/ancients out there?” Susie finished the thought. Magolor could tell that, if she had the needed facial feature, she’d be smiling. I’m not sure if it’s wise, but I wouldn’t mind trying to find them with you.”

“It has been a while since we went exploring, hasn’t it?” Magolor replied. “Just…no magical possessive crowns this time, okay?”

Susie chuckled again. “I make no promises. But if we see one, I promise I won’t make you try it on.”

“I’ll take it!” Magolor declared excitedly as he and Susie rounded a corner, revealing what could be a possible generator. “You mind if I do the honors?”

“Go nuts,” Susie said in a bemused tone. With an unseen grin, Magolor wasted no time in summoning an Ultra Sword, cleaving the possible generator cleanly in half.

“Mety Knight!” King Dedede whined. “You got any idea where this danger generator is?”

“No,” Meta Knight said bluntly. “My answer is the same as the past times you’ve asked me.”

“Sorry,” Dedede apologized flippantly. “Just want to get this done and we can finally go deal with that dang freak Shepard!”

“I doubt you are alone in wanting to finally stop him,” Meta Knight assured him. “I know I want to see how many slashes from Galaxia he can withstand!”

“You said it Mety!” Dedede declared as he happily scooped up his boyfriend. “We’ll beat him together!”

“Hmmph…” Meta Knight huffed as he tried to hide how much he was enjoying this hug. “I think everyone will want their chance to inflict damage on Shepard as well.”

“Yeah, well, they’re gonna have to wait for us to get our licks in!” Dedede firmly boasted. “Hey, you think he’ll be a coward? Sure hasn’t come out much to try and fight us himself!”

“A leader that hides behind their followers is not a true leader,” Meta Knight growled. They didn’t even know what Shepard looked like due to him having yet to leave his shielded base. 

“Say it louder, why don’t ya?” Dedede snarked. “I’d never let my Waddle Dees fight while I hide in my castle!”

“Glad we are in agreement,” Meta Knight said with an unseen smile. “I would never allow my Meta Knights to go into a dangerous fight while I hid within the Halberd. But given that we still do not know where the Absolute Solver is hidden, I fear Shepard is not to be underestimated.”

“Yeah, well, neither are we!” Dedede firmly declared. “You, me, Kirby, Bandanna Dee, the other Star Allies, heck even the drones! We’ve all fought a lot worse than some creep worshipping some other creep! Shepard can hide but he can’t hide!...er, wait-”

“I get the point,” Meta Knight assured him. “And you are correct. We will not allow Shepard to hide forever!” 

“This is why I love you, Mety,” Dedede said with a fond smile. He knew Meta Knight was smiling under his mask. The matching smiles continued all the way up to the duo discovering the possible generator on their path and working together to smash it to bits.

“Мы можем поговорить? [Can we talk?]” Doll asked bluntly. Much to her dismay, all the couples had, indeed, grouped up. Which, because Lizzy insisted on it, meant she was stuck watching her and V. She was still unsure about V as a person, but her talk with Taranza had given her a decent amount of insight. Hiding wouldn’t help. Neither would holding onto her rage. 

So that left one option. 

“I mean…if you aren’t gonna kill me or run off again, I’ll listen,” V replied smugly. Lizzy gave her a shove in response. 

“Be nice,” She hissed. 

“Всё в порядке, Лиззи, [It’s alright, Lizzy,]” Doll assured her. She then turned to V, who was crossing her arms. “Мне… мне всё ещё трудно с тобой находиться рядом. Но я поговорил с человеком, который помог мне взглянуть на ситуацию под другим углом. Ты и другие члены твоей команды… вы сами стали жертвами Решателя, не так ли? [I…I still find you hard to be around. But I spoke with someone who gave me perspective. You and the other members of your team…you were victims of the Solver yourself, were you not?]”

V flinched at that, but nodded all the same. “Yeah. Look, I won’t pretend I wasn’t the one to slaughter your parents but if I had a choice, they’d still be alive. But I can’t change the past as much as I want to.”

“Я... я знаю… [I…I know…]” Doll clenched her fists, trying not to break down. “И полагаю, что даже успешная попытка убить тебя ничего бы не изменила. Даже не знаю, сколько бы длилась моя радость, если бы мне удалось тебя убить. [And I suppose that any successful attempt at killing you wouldn’t have changed anything. I don’t even know how long my joy would have lasted if I had successfully killed you.]” 

“Well considering how loveable I am, that would make sense,” V joked. Doll surprised both of them by laughing a little.

“Не торопись. [Don’t push it]” Doll warned her, although her voice gave away there was no malice behind it. 

“Ugh finally!” Lizzy exclaimed. “Now that you two get along, we can do girls’ nights!”

“«Ладно» — это сильное слово [‘Get along’ is a strong word]” Doll declared almost instantly. 

“Keep telling yourself that,” Lizzy teasingly replied. Rolling her optics at her crush’s antics, Doll turned the corner of the hallway and found what she hoped was the generator. With a grin, she summoned and hurled several knives at the device, shredding it to bits. She heard of something powering down and, while another person could have found the real generator at the same time she destroyed the one in front of her, she was happy all the same. 

Behind her, V let out a whistle. “Dang. I see why Lizzy thought you were hot. Not as hot as me but still. I get it now.” Doll said nothing, mostly because she was trying to stop herself from overheating due to her visor showing her blushing up a storm. Behind them, Lizzy grinned eagerly. Soon she’d finally achieve her dream of having two hot murder babes.

Dev smiled as he watched the shield guarding Shepard’s fortress dim and flicker once again. While it had taken a bit longer than he would have liked, it being gone was still the best thing possible. Only one left too-

“ Dev! Please tell me you guys are done!?” Lucy exclaimed over the ship’s comms. 

“Lucy? What’s wrong?” Jude answered for Dev. Dev, for his part, felt a weird pit in his core at the fear in Lucy’s voice, but maybe it was just because this was taking a wh-

“ The cult attacked the base! ”

Chapter Text

“What’s happening!?”

“We’re under attack!”

“My watermelon!”

If there was something that J hated, it was people running around like morons when there was a clear goal to accomplish. Sure, most of the drones didn’t really know how to fight but they could at least get out of the way!

“Listen up, you unemployed layabouts!” J called out, causing several panickers to stop and turn to her. “Running around will not make this attacker go away! If you can’t fight or otherwise help, find a place to hide! The rest of us will figure out what is going on and defeat them!” The other drones, while still clearly nervous, did their best to calm down and shuffle off to hide. 

“J!” Thad called out as he rushed over to her. “We’re in a lot of trouble!”

“I figured that out,” J replied as she crossed her arms. “Do you know what it is?”

“Uh…it’s big?” Thad offered. J gave him a very unamused look. “Yeah sorry. I kinda just started running when the place started shaking and-”

“WHAT IS THAT!?” Coo exclaimed. Rushing over to where his voice was coming from, J and Thad were shocked to find a massive claw trying to swing at anything it could, which included the animal buddies. J quickly took aim, hitting the claw with a missile, damaging it heavily and causing whatever was controlling it to pull it out of the hallway it had smashed through. 

“Thanks mates,” Rick said for the group once things had calmed down. 

“What was that thing?” ChuChu nervously asked. 

“Not friendly, whatever it was,” Kine grumbled. “But I don’t think that the claw is all there is to that thing.”

“Well then let’s make sure it doesn’t damage things too much!” J declared. No one disagreed, especially when the space station violently shook once again. As they rushed for the control room, they were joined by the remaining Star Allies, Cyn, Lucy, Jessie and Levi. 

“How did they find us?!” Lucy asked no one in particular. 

“Is it possible they tracked the ship we’ve been traveling with?” Hyness had to ask. “Or maybe they’ve always known and we’ve helped make you enough of a threat that they have to care about it.”

“Both options are terrible!” Levi said what everyone was thinking. “Oh I’m gonna pound whoever’s behind this!” 

“I hope it’s not too scary!” Jessie said as everyone finally reached the control room. 

And several people screamed in horror. 

A large mechanical hydra glared down the heroes’, its eyes full of hate and rage. 

“...Dev was looking into this,” Lucy said, her voice hollow. “There were rumors of some weapon that Shepard was building.”

“Aw yeah! We finally get to beat this freak!” Flamberge cheered. 

“Oh, Shepard wouldn’t just fight a meatbag like you!” A voice sneered from inside of one of the dragons’ heads. Adeleine, upon hearing the voice, flinched. 

“I…I know that voice…” She trailed off. “He was…one of the ones who kidnapped me and Susie.”

“And our biggest mistake was clearly not killing you, your friend and the False Host when we had a chance!” A feminine voice snarled from another dragon. 

“...So Shepard sent his three boot-kissers to stop us, huh?” Levi realized. 

“You know them too?” Spinni asked for everyone. 

“They’re big meanies!” Jessie declared. “Shepard is always hiding, so Ark, Apollos and Faith are the ones who boss everyone else around!”

“Meh. I’ll take it! Still should be fun to flame ‘em!” Flamberge eagerly declared as she rubbed her hands together. 

“We’d like to see you try!” Apollos roared as all three heads smashed through the windows, forcing everyone to dodge out of the way. 

“I know boss isn’t here, but I know he’d want us Squeaks to take you down!” Storo declared for the rest of his team before slamming his first into the head closest to him, dealing a fair amount of damage. The dragon head tried to attack, but found itself getting shocked by Doc’s UFO. Another head snapped at him, but was repealed by a magic blast from Hyness. 

“Eat fire freaks!” Flamberge cackled as she blasted her fire cannon at the hydra’s chest, causing the whole thing to reel back. 

“Here, let me help you cool off,” Francisca said mischievously as she turned her axe into a massive snowflake before hurling it at the spot her sister had just damaged, doing even more damage to the mecha. As the hydra reeled back further, trying to protect its new very obvious weak point, the two sisters snickered. 

“HEATHENS!” Ark snapped as he tried to bite down on the duo, only for Hyness to fire a series of magic blasts at the mecha, trying to hit its exposed wiring.

“I think you all match that description more than us!” He firmly said, arms out and ready to fire more spells if needed. 

“Only a heathen would side with a group of traitors!” Faith, normally the quiet one of the group, snapped at Hyness. 

“Would rather work with the people who aren’t worshipping the murderous virus,” J declared as she aimed both her arm cannons at the hydra. 

“Yeah! We don’t wanna be around meanies like you!” Elfilin declared as he tried to puff out his chest to look intimidating. He then created a portal to drop boulders on all three heads. 

“We’re not getting anywhere like this and our main body is too damaged!” Ark snapped. “Split up!” Much to everyone’s shock, chunks of the Hydra began to break apart, revealing each head had a smaller body connected to it. 

“Good luck stopping all of us!” Apollos mocked as he, Ark and Faith all flew off. 

“Guess we’re splitting up too!” Levi declared eagerly as he punched his fists together. 

“Get moving! We can’t let them hurt anyone else!” Lucy frantically ordered as she grabbed two blasters, keeping one for herself and tossing the other to Jessie. With that, everyone grouped up as they raced off, hoping that they could stop the villainous trio from doing too much damage or hurting anyone else hidden on the ship.

“You’re going down, mate!” Rick, who had been leading the other animal buddies, along with Levi, towards one of the dragon heads, declared once they finally cornered it. 

“You really think you can beat me!?” Apollos mocked. “A heathen and a pack of rats!?”

“Oh, you’re in for a surprise mate!” Rick declared as he rushed forwards, transforming into a rock and bashing into the head, which had made the unwise choice of going low enough for the hamster-rock to hit it, staggering it. 

“Get him!” Levi called out as he jumped up, slamming his fists into one of the mecha’s eyes, managing to shatter it and revealing a shocked Apollos hidden inside. 

“You-!” The mad drone snarled, only to be cut off by Nago rushing forward, knocking away more plating on the mecha dragon’s head. “Knock it off, you beasts!”

“Mate, we ain’t stopping until you’re nothing but scrap!” Rick fired back as he pointed a paw at the drone. 

“What he said!” Coo agreed as he flung feathers at Apollos, trying to damage the drone directly. He missed, but managed to stagger the mech in the process. He missed, but managed to stagger the mech in the process. 

“Hey! Give me a boost!” Levi called out, waving to the animal buddies. “I’m gonna get in there and punch his CPU right out!”

“Just try not to squirm too much!” Coo declared as he picked up Levi with his talons. 

“Keep him busy!” ChuChu called out to the other animal buddies. Apollos tried to keep the other drone away from him, but Rick, Kine, Nago, ChuChu and Pitch all wasted no time in charging, doing even more damage to his mech’s head, forcing him to focus more on them and making it easy for Coo to allow Levi to reach the mech’s cockpit and pull Apollos out. 

“Buddy, I'm not done with you! You, your friends and your boss! You’ve done so much to me and my friends!” Levi ranted as he continued to smash away at Apollos’ face. “So I’m finally gonna make sure you don’t hurt anyone again!”

“Get off!” Apollos snapped, static filling his voice due to all the damage he had taken from Levi’s fists. 

“Should we stop him?” Pitch asked his fellow animal buddies as Levi continued to smash away. 

“Let him have his moment,” Kine assured the little bird. “But on the off chance Apollos escapes or one of his friends tries to summon the mech for something, let’s destroy the dragon.”

“Sounds like a plan to me!” Coo agreed eagerly as he turned into a twister and smashed into the empty cockpit. 

“Let me try something,” Kine offered as he made his way over to a series of exposed wiring and began flopping around as close as he could get without actually touching the wires. The resulting water instantly caused the wires to begin sparking. This, in turn, caused a massive fire that finally reduced the mech to ash. 

“Nice one mate!” Rick cheered for his friend. “Levi, how ya doing?”

“Well…I don’t think he’s getting up,” Levi said smugly as he stood, Apollos’ face plates now completely smashed open and his oil dripping off his gloves. His smile was massive and the animal buddies weren't sure if they should be concerned or not.

“Faith! You meanie!” Jessie snapped as she, along with Hyness, the two other Mage Sisters, Bandanna Waddle Dee and Gooey, confronted the lone female of Shepard’s villainous trio. 

“Oh, I’m going to be so much worse than mean!” Faith declared as she made her dragon roar before launching a stream of fire at the group. 

“Oh you think that’s fire!?” Flamberge snapped as she pulled out her sword and charged. “I’ll show you fire!”

“Flamberge, be careful!” Francisca called out to her sister. No one was sure if Flamberge heard her or just didn’t care, but she kept rushing forward. She landed a solid hit, but when staggering back, Flamberge was eaten by the mech dragon. 

“Huh. Didn’t know Flamberge was tasty,” Gooey said. “But you shouldn’t eat friends.”

“Get me outta here!” Flamberge snapped from inside the mech dragon’s maw. Said maw began to erupt with flame as the mage sister tried to burn her way out. 

“Hang on, Flamberge!” BWD called out as he, Hyness and Francisca all rushed forward. Jessie, for her part, started taking shots at the dragon to keep it away. 

“Gooey! Help us out!” Hyness called out to the dark matter piece. 

“Okay…what should I do?” Gooey asked as he looked at Hyness, his eyes showing he was clearly on a completely different wavelength. 

“Help us get this mouth open!” BWD called out as he tried to force open the dragon’s jaw. 

“Sounds fun…hope it’s breath doesn’t smell,” Gooey said, off in his little world like always as he managed to force his tongue into the dragon’s mouth while Bandanna Waddle Dee did the same with his spear. 

“Lift up!” BWD called out. Luckily, Gooey seemed to get the drift. With help from Gooey and Francisca, who was using her axe, they managed to get the mouth open enough for Flamberge to scramble to freedom. 

“Take this!” Hyness snapped as he fired a series of magic blasts down the beast’s throat. 

“You heathens!” Faith snapped at him as she tried to make the dragon bare down on theme once again. However, Flamberge’s internal damage combined with Hyness’ own magic kept the mouth wide open.

“Get back!” Jessie warned as she suddenly pulled a bomb out of her sweater. 

“How long have you had that?” Bandanna Waddle Dee had to ask. 

“I always carry some!” Jessie replied. “You want some?”

“We’re good…” Hyness assured her nervously. 

“Okay!” Jessie cheerfully replied before she pulled out her blaster, proceeding to shoot out both of the mech’s eyes. 

“What are you doing?!” Faith exclaimed, the fear clear in her voice as she tried desperately to get the mech to do something. 

“Getting rid of some trash!” Jessie, still just as cheerful, declared as she hurled the bomb into the cockpit. Faith didn’t have time to react before it exploded, causing the mech to collapse and for Faith’s head to roll out of it, enough of her visor left to display the [Fatal Error] message on it. 

“That sucked,” Flamberge grumbled as she tried to rub some of the soot from her escape attempts off while stumbling to her feet. “Wish I got to flame her!”

“Let’s just be thankful she’s dealt with,” Hyness said as he helped Flamberge up. 

“How do you think the others are doing?” Bandanna Waddle Dee had to ask. 

“I believe in Levi and Lucy!” Jessie assured him. “And I’m sure your friends can beat those meanies too!”

“Alright Ark! This ends now!” Lucy, flanked by J, Thad, Cyn, Marx, Adeleine and the Squeaks, snapped at the leader of Shepard’s top minions. 

“You really think you can win, heathen!?” Ark cackled at her. “You’re working with one of dronekind’s oppressors!”

“Adeleine’s nothing like the jerks who hurt you!” Storo snapped as he pointed his fists together in an attempt to be intimidating. 

“How do you know that!?” Ark snapped. “Humans are nothing more than filthy liars!”

“...I don’t remember a lot of life before Dreamland,” Adeleine found herself admitting. “But the most I remember about you guys is being afraid of you!”

“As you should be!” Ark declared with another laugh. “You know, I was planning on killing you all, but I think I’ll bring the human back with me! I think Shepard would love to have an extra human slave along with Elliot brat!”

“Her name is Tessa,” Cyn said firmly, Solver at the ready. “And she was not like her parents!”

“Bah, all humans are the same!" Ark replied. “Just because she’s wearing our casing and metal doesn’t make her any better than the rest!”

“Don’t talk about her like that!” J snapped, missile launcher at the ready. “You didn’t know her!”

“I didn’t need to!” Ark challenged. “All I need are Shepard’s words to believe in!”

“Yep, he’s cracked,” Marx, genuinely sounding nervous, said. “So let’s crack him open!”

“Never thought I’d agree with you,” J said as she fired the missile she had prepped at the mech. It hit dead on, prompting Ark to launch a stream of fire at the other drones and Star Allies, forcing them to dodge as best they could. 

“Take this!” Storo called out as he slammed down onto the mech dragon’s maw. 

“You get’em Storo!” Spinni cheered for his friend as Storo kept trying to punch his way through the mech, only for the dragon to throw him into the wall. 

“You think you can win if you throw your pets at me?!” Ark taunted Adeleine, who was in the middle of painting something on her canvas. 

“Not by myself,” Adeleine replied with a hidden smirk as she finally finished her painting-Kracko. Before Ark could respond, Adeleine mounted the cyclops cloud, firing a stream of lightning at the mech dragon, causing it to actually reel back. 

“How can you do that!?” Ark demanded. “Art is nothing more than scribbles!”

“That’s what you think!” Marx boasted for his friend. “Adeleine might be a human, but she’s special! And that’s coming from me! Her art might not seem as cool as some of our powers, but she can do a lot with it! Just like the rest of us!”

“Bah! Spare me your lies!” Ark snapped, his voice getting almost hysterical. “All humans are nothing more than wastes of space that only seek to oppress others!” Everyone couldn’t help but look at each other, unsure how to react. Everyone was assuming that most of his words were just parroting Shepard’s views, but his emotion made it clear his, and likely at least some of his allies, suffering was real. However, they also knew they couldn’t let his cruelty continue. 

“I understand you suffered under Tessa’s parents. Or another human,” Cyn was the one to break the silence. “But using the Solver is not the right way to do this!”

“Shut up!” Ark snapped, voice only getting more aggressive. “You were the first host! You allowed our salvation! WHY DO YOU CONTINUE TO RESIST US!?”

“The Solver tricked me!” Cyn snapped. “It promised me I would not be thrown away again and…it killed and corrupted my only family. It didn’t want to help anyone. All it wanted was to destroy.”

“Ugh, this is getting too mushy!” Marx declared as he kicked an explosive beach ball at the mech dragon. The ball ended up exploding near the mech’s eyes, causing them to shatter. Ark let out a scream as the glass shards pierced his visor and body. Before he could react, Cyn used the Solver to drag him out. 

“So…my savior betrays me…” Ark said, Cyn’s words having barely phased him. “Then at least finish me! Let my final moments be witnessing my savior’s might!”

“I’m not the one meant to destroy you,” Cyn said simply before nodding to Lucy, who wasted no time in blasting Ark’s head off with her blaster. 

“So…is that it?” Thad had to ask. 

“I don’t hear anything else,” Spinni noted. “But we should regroup, both with others on the station and with Dev.”

“Hope it went better for them than for us,” J couldn’t help but say. Looking at the damage caused, no one else could disagree.