In the morning, Magolor heard footsteps. He looked back to see Marx shuffling along, wings trailing behind him. "Hey, nerd," he rasped, eyes averted.

"Hey, jackass," Magolor jabbed, glaring at him. "How does it feel?"

"Like hell," Marx squawked. "How's you're getting us burned up in a giant star working out?"

"That's not what I'm doing," retorted Magolor, "I'm trying to get us out of here. In a logical way, as opposed to you." He turned back to his screen. "Bet you wish you had Nova right about now."

Marx seethed. "Bet you wish you had that stupid crown. Bet you wish you'd picked it up while we were still on your crummy planet!"

"I wish I'd never been to your crummy planet!" Magolor shouted, wheeling on Marx. "Then I would've never had to see your stupid face!" he paused, drawing in a breath. "If I had never listened to your stupid plan, we wouldn't be here!"

"My stupid plan?" Marx wheezed, pointing to himself. "I told you it didn't work, and you copied it anyway! You thought you could do better than me, huh?"

"Of course! I can do anything better than you! I even got further with my plan-and I've gotten so much further with finding a way out of here, too!"

"You're just sitting there-"

"Stop."

Both turned to see Taranza lingering in the doorway. He was drooping with exhaustion, his eyelids lowered. "Marx, you're hurt, go lay down."

After confronted with a second of silence, he repeated himself. "You're hurt. Go lay down again." He closed his eyes. "You're hurt, go lay down. You're hurt, go lay down."

His words dissolved to passionate sobbing, and he lowered himself to the floor, hands strewn about him. "You're gonna be hurt for the rest of your life!" he wailed, crawling toward the two.

"I couldn't think of anything-I can't-I don't want to-" A pair of hands reached out and Marx took them in his claws, feeling tears spring to his eyes. Magolor drifted to them and took another of Taranza's hands, shocked and how tight his grip was.

"Magolor," Taranza gasped, "How's it gonna happen?"

Magolor was at a loss for what to say. "I...haven't been thinking about it that much."

"I have," Taranza whimpered. His eyes cracked open. "The ship could get crushed under the pressure. Or it could cook us. Or the ship could burst open and leave us out in the open to burn up, like you, Marx."

"How about vaporization?" Marx suggested.

"Do you two really think this is going to help?" Magolor snapped. Taranza let out a few more sobs, collapsing to the floor.

"I'm never gonna see Floralia again, or the lower world, or the other planets, or…" His body racked and shivered as he let out the most sorrowful, horrid noise that both Magolor and Marx had ever heard.

"Are we interrupting something?" Leo asked from the doorway. Poppy stood behind him, almost hiding. Magolor quickly stood before Taranza, letting Marx help him up.

"No, no. I was interrupted from my work, anyway. What is it?"

"Poppy has something to tell you," Leo said firmly, glancing to his companion. "It may provide a bit of solace. We're going to die faster than we thought."

"What?" Magolor asked, stunned. "Poppy, what did you do?"

"Well…" Poppy began, trailing off and avoiding eye contact. "I didn't think I could stand being away from Popstar for so long. Y'know, Popstar, with my bombs, and fireworks, and...y'know!"

"Poppy," Magolor repeated, lowering his tone, "what did you do?"

"So I brought some with me," Poppy confessed between nervous laughter. Astonished, Magolor looked at Leo.

"He's got a few dozen in storage," Leo said.

"Wait-" Taranza looked up from the floor, gazing at Gerath's light. "If we have bombs, then…"

"You smuggled explosives onto my ship?" Magolor stated. Marx broke into a hearty laughter, which he immediately tried to quell as his scorched skin protested.

"If we have that much force, there's a chance to…" Taranza rushed to the windshield, looking outside.

"You smuggled explosives onto my ship," Magolor repeated. But Poppy was no longer paying attention to him. He watched the tear-streaked Taranza as he formulated a plan. Leo took Poppy's hand and joined him at the windshield.

"I'll need a bit of time to think, but I've got a hunch," Taranza breathed. Marx, smiling, grabbed Magolor's glove and shook it.

Taranza sped away, back to the residence hall. But this time, he was ecstatic. He was blind to anything else than his plan, and he thought feverishly.

The other four watched him go. "I don't think your planet's crummy," Marx murmured to Magolor. "I just like Popstar better."

"I think I like Popstar better too," Magolor replied.