A/N: Hey guys, I have returned to bring you all another chapter of "One Wrong Turn". As a way of me going back and reflecting on old things since I recently turned 18 this year, I decided to return and finish where 14 year old me left off. It's been a while, so hopefully my writing has improved a bit since then.

It didn't take much time for Marx to catch up to Magolor, as he stopped in the middle of a clearing in the odd cave jungle. Knuckle Joe, however, was nowhere to be seen.

"Mags! Hey Mags what happened? Where's Joe?" Marx had called out to Magolor as he approached. "Magolor?"

"He… Disappeared," Magolor whimpered, suddenly raised his hand, pointing the only remaining sign of Knuckle Joe, his headband. It was on the ground as if it was discarded carelessly. The look on Magolor's face was confused, and quite fearful.

"Disappeared?"

"He was still running… then he screamed and I don't know what happened! He just disappeared from my sight!"

"How?" Marx questioned, giving an odd look.

"Didn't I just say 'I don't know,' Marx!?" Magolor shook the jester, angrily, but still frightened to what strange phenomenon he just witnessed.

"Please put me down, Mags," Marx calmly commanded the Halcandran. Magolor dropped him without a care.

"I'm just wondering where he went… or if he's even still alive…"

Magolor held his head, already feeling the stress headache coming on. The headache came quicker, however, when Marx decided to walk into the clearing to get the hair accessory.

"Marx, please don't," Magolor agonizingly groaned.

"Don't what?"

Marx was snickering. The headband was already on his jester hat, making it weirdly divided like Knuckle Joe's hair was.

"I was going to say, 'Don't touch that Marx it might be dangerous out in that clearing,' but now I'm saying don't with whatever the hell you're doing," Magolor facepalmed in disbelief.

"Please take that off."

"Nah."

"Marx."

"Magolor."

"You're a real pain," Magolor sighed, "I'm trying to make sure you're safe. We don't know what the heck happened to Joe, and you decide to wear his remains."

"Hey. Hey, Magolor. I'm just hanging on to it for him," Marx retorted. "If anything, he would probably want it back if we found him later on"

"Are you actually going to give it to him?"

"Hm?" Marx made the questioning sound as he continued to walk ahead from the clearing, while Magolor followed. It seemed like he didn't quite hear his friend.

"Are you going to give his accessory back if we find Knuckle Joe," Magolor squinted his eyes.

"Maybe."

"Of course it's a 'maybe," Magolor's squinting eyes had turned into rolling eyes. "Come on, At the very least we need to find an exit."

The two continued to walk past the clearing and deeper into the jungle. Quickly they realized, they weren't the only living beings there,as there was a ton of different types of creatures living there.

There was swarms of Bronto Burts and Scarfies, who immediately attacked on sight.

There was charging Grizzos who also attacked on sight.

And unsurprisingly there were Waddle Dees.

Wild Waddle Dees. They also attacked with spears and anything they could get their hands on.

Theses attacks lead to the two to rush into a nearby hidden small cave. Magolor took extra, but important measures of picking up big leaves and sticks and covering the entrance to their hiding spot.

They hid there in silence for a few scary, long minutes. Even after the coast seemed clear they resumed hiding. They were a muddy, anxious mess.

Clearly they were unwanted newcomers in a wild and dangerous new world. Or was it new?

To Marx, something about this place felt strangely familiar. The Grizzos? The crazy Waddle Dees? It all felt so familiar. It was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't make out exactly why. This was troubling, because if he knew he been at a place, then he probably caused a lot of trouble there.

Magolor however, found the place completely unfamiliar. Never would he had thought there was another layer of a surface-like world underneath the actual surface. It's not something normal in other star planets, that was for sure, and Gamble Galaxy was filled with strange star planets.

Both had reasons to be scared; The fear of The Unknown, and the fear of The Known.

"Magolor…. Any ideas on how we're gonna get out of this mess?" Marx asked, staring blankly into space inwardly worried about what would become of them.

"No? I don't know anything about this cave jungle place!" Magolor sounded absolutely exhausted. "It was highly unlikely that a surface-like ecosystem exists down here."

"Do you think we could stay in this cave 'til my wings heal?"

Magolor looked at Marx worriedly as he said that. The last time he saw those wings, they didn't look like something that could heal overnight. It disturbed Magolor just thinking about it.

"...Maybe, Marx," Magolor hesitantly answered. "Maybe."

"Well they normally heal a lot faster than someone with a broken arm or leg," Marx remarked, somewhat tempted to check the wings right then and there. "Maybe in a couple of days or hours or so, they'll be ready to fly again."

"Mhmm," Magolor did his best to agree, but decided to put his attention toward the entrance of the hiding spot.

"And maybe we'll be able to get back to the surface through another opening"

"Possibly…" Magolor grew quiet to a whisper.

Before Marx can blurt out another hope of his, Magolor quietly shushed him and pointed to the entrance. There was a shadow of someone from behind their leaf covered opening.

The two watched the figure carefully, trying to see what it was. It was a round and bouncy type of character. For a moment, the two were nearly convinced it was another puffball like Kirby. They were shocked to find this bouncy figure speak.

"Hello? Hello!" the figure yelled out. "I don't mean to intrude on you two, but I can possibly be a help to you! I saw you guys wandering into trouble!"

The voice was just as squeaky, adorable, and non threatening sounding as theirs. The Halcandran and the jester looked at each other with mutual suspicions and nodded in silent agreement. They know from each other and from experiences with Kirby, if the person adorable and friendly not to trust them.

Magolor slowly approached the entryway and removed the leaves and Marx braced himself for the worst.

The figure turned out to be a noddy with a red hat. She smiled happily to once she saw the faces of the newcomers.

"Hello! My name is Apple!" she giggled. "I'm here to help you guys!"

Her fluffy hat was covered in tree leaves, which left the impression that she was really living, or attempting to live, up to her name.

"This is way worse than what I expected," Marx thought. He didn't think to hide his facial expression, which made Apple confused to the negative look.

"What's wrong? Haven't you seen a Noddy before?"

"Well, not one that's as wide awake as you," Magolor managed to find his voice. "Most of the Noddies I've seen usually have their eyes closed."

"Oh that's a….rather long story to tell," she said sheepishly. "The main point is that I have a sleeping disorder and can't really go to sleep as often as other noddies."

"Well that's unfortunate."

"Is it?" she tilted her head. "It's actually kinda nice not sleeping all the time."

"Anyway," Marx changed the subject back to the problem at hand. He could honestly care less about the conditions of the noddy, especially since his conditions were far worse to him. "You said you were going to help us, right?"

"Yes I am! I noticed you two wandering around into unfriendly territory, and I wanted to show you the way to my village! There's a lot of people there that could give you directions to where you're going and it's pretty safe!"

"Pretty safe?" Magolor questioned suspiciously.

"Well a village can only have so much security," Apple rolled her eyes. "Are you going to come with me or not? It's getting late and the dark hours are not a good time to be outside."

"The sky hadn't changed its hue what are you-"

Before Marx could finish his question, Apple darted off into the jungle.

"Ugh! More running?" Marx complained. "I'm sick and tired of running!"

"Come on, Marx we don't have many options or room to complain!" Magolor flew after Apple, while Marx grumbled.

"Hey it's easy for you to say, isn't it?"

The two begrudgingly followed, unsure what to truly think of their guide.

Apple lead them into a spot covered completely in bushes and went through them with hardly much of a problem. Marx and Magolor, however, had plenty of issues like spiky plants while trying to get through the thicket.

They soon found themselves looking at a small but rather pretty enclosure. It was also tiny village upon closer inspection. There was waterfalls and colorful plants everywhere which made it hard to find the buildings due to camouflage.

The Halcandran and the Jester stared at the village in awe. It looked so peaceful and relaxing that they can already feel themselves drifting off to a peaceful sleep.

"Are you guys still behind me?" Apple broke their silence. It seems that she wasn't lying when she said she didn't easily fall asleep like normal noddies.

"Uh! Yes, we are" Magolor answered back after shaking himself out of his near daydream.

"Yeah, yeah, Apple," Marx yawned and grumbled. "Also what gives with the atmosphere here? I feel like about to pass out and die over here!"

"What atmosphere?" she tilted her head in confusion right until she realized what he meant. "Oh, the atmosphere."

She stopped in front of a large fountain in the middle of the village and turned to face them. At the top of the fountain, there was a massive rainbow-colored shimmering scale.

"This is Rainbow Scale Village," she began. "Long ago, noddies from the surface world fell down into these caves after a massive earthquake."

"How long ago are we talking? Ancient long ago, or what?" Marx interrupted.

"About maybe a couple thousand years ago or so, I'm not sure," she answered back calmly.

"What fell along with them was one of the scales from the monster that caused the earthquake. That monster had the ability to bend reality by bending dreams, so I guess the scale has a magical effect that makes people get sleepy."

"You guess?"

"Well it's not like I can really tell! Chronic sleep disorder, remember?"

Magolor cautiously floated over to the scale, looking at the details of the scale with interest. He could really feel it's sleepiness power have an effect on him, but he continued to study it.

His eyes widened from realization on what exactly it was. He flew over to Marx and began shaking him with absolute excitement.

"HOLY GAMBLE GALAXY! MARX, WE'RE LOOKING AT A SCALE OF THE DREAMIDIA DRAGON!"

"Ack! Magolor please put me down!"

"You don't understand! While I was doing research on Landia, I happened to come across data on Dreamidia! That dragon is one of the most sought after legends ever. It has a huge hoard of treasure, most of which contains unspeakable amounts of power!"

"So? I mean we already did have our fill on ancient artifacts that could potentially consume our minds and make us go batshit insane, Magolor."

It was strange for Marx to remind Magolor out of all people about what they've been through in the face of power hungry ideas, but he did. And Magolor remembered very well about his own downfall with the Crown. It was so well, that he could remember it all like it was yesterday. Of course, he didn't like remembering the influence that overtook him and the part where he practically died.

"Yes, well...I suppose you're right Marx," Magolor faltered in his excitement. He gently put Marx down this time.

"Anyway," Marx turned toward Apple. "So where's the people who can give us directions?"

"The people?" Apple asked, surprised sounding.

"Yes! The people you said would help us get directions!"

Marx already looked very irritated with the ditzy Noddy.

"We'd very much appreciate it if you would tell us where to get directions so we'll be on our way," Magolor said nicely, not wanting to upset her.

"Oh! The people…." Apple drifted off into thought. She looked toward the various homes until she remembered a very important thing.

"Oops! I'm so sorry," She suddenly apologized. "I forgot!"

"Forgot what!?" Marx yelled.

"I forgot that everyone here is asleep!"

Marx groaned in complete annoyance. Of course everyone would be sleep.

Magolor tried to contain his own impatience, but he was clearly frowning. They needed some type of help to get home.

"When do they awake?" Magolor asked.

"Probably never, they're deep in their sleep on and the only time I could really talk to them is the very few times I've fallen asleep."

"Oh come on!" Marx yelled. "What was the point at bringing us here then?"

"Would you have rather stayed outside in the harsh wild environment, especially near the cannibalistic Waddle Dees?" she glared back at Marx. "I brought you somewhere safe, like I said."

Marx had screamed in frustration and Magolor simply sighed.

"Besides, it's not all lost I guess," she continued. "I'm sure that you can still communicate with them."

"Well how?" Marx yelled.

"By sleeping, like I said. Dreams tend to be interconnected here. I may not be able to sleep as easy but you guys can," she frowned. "Jeez, you try to help a person and they yell at you."

"Apologies, Apple," Magolor said as he had patted Marx's head, attempting to calm the growling jester. "We've been actually up for a while now anyway. The only time we could catch some 'sleep' was when we fell down a giant hole and were knocked unconscious… if you could even call that sleep."

"Well maybe that's good news, kinda!" she laughed a bit nervously. "At least it would make it easier for you guys. I wish I would be able go to sleep real easy."

"Maybe we could knock you out, Apple," Marx suggested mischievously.

"Oh nah. No thanks, sir." Apple giggled. "I rather not risk a huge headache, wouldn't want to risk a nod on my head. Get it? Knot? Nod? Similar words?"

She waited for a reaction to her joke, but neither of them really responded to it. Apple sighed and decided to get back on point.

"Anyway, I know a good spot for you two to rest. Follow me."

She lead them over to a reasonably small hut. Inside of it was three comfortable looking beds, one of which was already taken. The occupant on the bed was completely covered in their blanket, snugly snoring away.

"Do you got any empty rooms?" Marx asked. "I don't sleep well with people snoring."

"Oh! Sorry there isn't any snoring free houses," Apple said. "A lot of people here snore, believe me I checked. There's a lot of very unique sounding snores too. Someone even yodels in their sleep!"

"Does that even count as a snore?"

"I don't know, but I could let you sleep near them if you want."

"No...no thanks."

"Do these people even mind us sleeping here?" Magolor questioned.

"Well they normally don't wake up, and the only way for others to talk to them is to sleep, too. I'm positive they don't mind. Especially since it's hard to greet tourists without them being asleep."

"Okay."

Magolor started to decide on which bed to take, but Marx already claimed a bed. He claimed the one that was the farthest away from the snoring sleeper.

The poor Halcandran sighed and took the middle bed. It got real quiet, but Apple had an excitable idea.

"Ooh! Why don't I get my pillows and attempt to sleep with you guys maybe I'll fall asleep too?" she gasped. "I'll be right back, don't worry!"

Before any objections can be made she rushed out of the room. The two looked at each other in silence. It didn't seem like either of them were really ready to sleep.

Once they were absolutely sure they were alone, they began discussing their situation.

"So…." Marx started. "Do you trust her? I don't. At all."

"Well no, not particularly," Magolor was twiddling his thumbs. "She seems okay, but there's an off feeling I have about all of this, Marx."

"Exactly why I don't trust her. All of this is super convenient. She happened to bknow exactly where we were hiding, and that she's a noddy living in a village where everyone but her, sleeps."

A particularly loud snore comes from the sleeping dreamer in the other bed. Both Marx and Magolor stared at them. An intense curiosity took over the two.

Magolor, not caring that this was particularly rude, went over and quickly removed the covers to see who was sleeping in it.

Revealed to them, a familiar face was sleeping in the bed, much to their surprise.