Of course, she was right.

Peach was afraid of what she'd become. She'd taken on the powers of the Ultimate Life Form in order to defend herself and her world, and she didn't regret doing it for a moment, but… she didn't feel comfortable in her own skin, especially when her skin could shift into nearly anything. She'd spent ten years politicking and rebuilding her kingdom, and practicing her magic and Ripple arts, all to distract herself from her fears. Other than creating options, she'd tried to limit her shapeshifting as much as possible, maybe in some vain hope that she'd simply forget about her powers if she didn't use them.

But Micaiah was right. She would be even more effective if she made use of all of her abilities… but that was part of the problem too. Especially now, after learning from the Book of Minwu, Peach was more of a threat than ever; and again, though she didn't regret gaining power and knowledge in order to stop the Apex from invading her home, she wondered what would happen to her if she mastered her shapeshifting as well. If she was successful in defeating the Over-God and the rest of the Apex, would anyone else be able to stop her? What would stop her from turning into the Apex and forcing her will upon the unwilling, or into Kars and slaughtering millions to achieve some goal?

The Titan of Love charged, its massive blade pointed right at her. Peach pointed Grim right back and put up the strongest barrier she could, stopping the Titan dead in its tracks. For a moment, just a mere instant, she considered dropping the barrier and letting it run her through…

Peach.

Micaiah's voice echoed in her mind. Peach instinctively put up her psychic shield, though she doubted it would truly hold Micaiah back if she intended to harm her again. Just the thought of the pain she'd felt sent shivers down her spine; she knew Micaiah hadn't truly wanted to do it, that she'd also been forced to convert her if possible, but it wasn't a memory that would fade any time soon.

The Titan pulled its sword back. Peach dropped her barrier, generating a hammer of pink energy from the blue stone on her parasol in its place. She enhanced her strength with Saber and her speed with Haste and rushed at the Titan, but it blocked her with its free hand. She noticed a bit of armour missing on its palm and aimed for that, swinging her hammersol again and again at the weak spot, but the mecha didn't even flinch. Its hand closed around her, but she put up a Force Barrier around her body that pushed it away, giving her (metaphorical, of course; she was still in space) breathing room.

Peach tried to remember Micaiah's divine magic, how it had felt to cast it, but her attempt to conjure a few of her rainbow spears failed to produce anything at all. She zipped backwards as the Titan's hand closed again, this time focusing on a hole in the mecha's chest that went all the way through its body. It charged up another face laser and aimed right at her, but a Prismatic Barrier reflected the energy off into deep space.

Peach, we need to work together to defeat it. Peach felt Micaiah's magical presence somewhere behind her, but she was still quite miffed about that incident with touching her breasts. She'd known Micaiah was lying from the start – she was, after all, good at telling that sort of thing – but she'd done it anyways, if only because they were short on time. And despite her protests to the contrary, Peach could tell that she'd enjoyed it, if only a bit, even though it was a severe mood-breaker and quite inappropriate for the situation.

It was fine if Micaiah was attracted to her, but there's a time and place for that sort of thing, and trying to fight off a giant Knight of Apex with divine protection was not the right time.

The hole in the Titan revealed its inner workings, but it was quite different than what she'd expected. She looked up and saw a giant mechanical replica of a heart, which was pumping both a viscous black fluid and pale green energy throughout its body. Then again, didn't the regular Knights of Apex have surprisingly human internal anatomy? It seemed to her that a robot didn't have much use for a liver or a spleen, but then again, she didn't know much about robots – or for that matter, biology as well.

"Grim," she whispered; the lack of air in space meant that she couldn't speak properly, but the spirit within her parasol heard her just fine. She dismissed the hammer construct on the top of her parasol and pressed the gemstone against a metal surface. "Can you analyze the blessing on this, Grim?"

She remained in place, but in her mind's eye, she visualized the gothic version of Mushroom Castle and its keeper, the death spirit she'd nicknamed "Grim". The spirit, silhouetted by a pinkish moon, bowed to her.

"It is a powerful enchantment, yes… likely powered by a deity of some sort," Grim said, his voice paradoxically a death rattle full of life and warmth. "I lack the ability to dispel it."

"I see," Peach said. "But can you absorb a part of it, like you did with the Shadow Queen's soul?"

"I am afraid that is beyond my power, my master," Grim said. "The enchantment is bound to this automaton, and cannot be transferred to another source without the deity's permission."

His particular phrasing of that gave Peach an idea. "If I broke a piece off of the Titan, could I harm it with that?"

"I do not know for sure, but this enchantment protects it from non-divine means of harm, so that would be quite difficult if not impossible."

"What about its sword?"

Grim laughed. "Oh, of course, that would work just fine. Assuming you could wield such a thing…"

"Thank you for your assistance, Grim." Peach flew back out of her hiding spot, her eyes trained on the Titan's left hand and the massive silver-white sword it was holding. She also noticed Micaiah, a black silhouette against the Observatory's bright blue force field, throwing energy spears at the Titan's head.

Peach reached out with her telepathy. Micaiah? Can you hear me?

Yes, she responded. Listen, I'm sorry about that plan before. I knew you were uncomfortable already, so I shouldn't have pressed it.

No, I'm just as much at fault, Peach said. But I've got a significantly less squicky idea on to defeat the Titan, if you don't mind too much.

Rather than using words, Peach transmitted mental images of her idea through their link, creating a sort of psychic slideshow for Micaiah's benefit.

I can work with that, Micaiah transmitted back.

The Titan fired another face laser. Peach put up a dual Hexagon/Prismatic Barrier that reflected half of the light and heat back at the Titan's head, and absorbed the other half, converted it into FP, and projected it back towards the Observatory. Micaiah drew as much FP as she could from the stream of energy and mixed it with mana from herself, using both to create an enormous rainbow-coloured energy disc that she threw at the Titan's sword arm.

Despite being blinded, the Titan was well aware of Micaiah's disc; it had separate sensors to detect different types of energy, and though its visual sensors were temporarily overwhelmed, its magical sensors were still working fine. As such, it moved its arm out of the way of Micaiah's disc, and responded with finger beams from its other hand. But as always, Peach's plans had plenty of backups; in this case, she had thrown a few of her cells into the stream of FP, and Micaiah had incorporated them into the disc spell. This did little to nothing for its offensive power, but it did give Peach enough control to stop the disc mid-flight and adjust its course, namely right back at the Titan's hand. This time, the Titan didn't see it coming, and it cut right through its hand, severing it – and the sword – from the main body.

On cue, Peach's four options flew over and pried the sword from the Titan's cold, dead hand. The Titan fired another face laser at them, while simultaneously reaching for the sword with its other hand; Peach reflected the laser back with another mixed Prismatic/Hexagon Barrier, while Micaiah used a variant of Peach's Force Barrier to keep the Titan's hand at bay.

The Peach options took their positions on each side of the sword's hilt and, with some difficulty, brought the sword to a high position parallel to the Titan. Peach and Micaiah flew over to the sword and joined the options, and after casting a quick round of Saber and Haste on everyone, brought the sword down on the Titan's head. It futilely raised its other arm in an attempt to block the sword, but the six of them pumped their own mana and FP into the blade, giving it more than enough oomph to cleave right through the Titan's hand, arm, head and torso.

A figure cloaked in white-hot flame exploded outwards from the Titan's chest. For a moment, Peach saw something within – a humanoid being clad entirely in gold – but the figure continued toward deep space and vanished in record time.

My god, that was… Micaiah transmitted through their link, though Peach also received feelings of confusion and anger.

A creator deity? Peach suggested.

Yes. The Over-God must've trapped it in the Titan to sustain its blessing of protection.

It appears that the Titan is about to explode, an unfamiliar voice transmitted to both of them. I will contain the explosion, but I would advise that you both return to the Observatory.

Figuring that the other voice was Rosalina, Micaiah, Peach and her options all returned to the safety of the Observatory's force field. As they passed through, the force field faded and reappeared around the Titan's ruined corpse, and glowed brighter than the Sun for an instant as the Titan exploded.

Once the light faded, Peach realized that she was holding Micaiah tightly against her chest, her back to the explosion.

"…It was just light," Micaiah said as she looked up at Peach's eyes. "You didn't have to protect me or anything."

"It was instinctive," Peach said, but she didn't let her go. "I'm sorry for being so stubborn. We probably could have defeated the Titan quicker if we went with your plan."

"No, yours worked just fine." Micaiah smiled. "And I apologize for being so pushy. I thought I might be able to make you overcome your fears by force, but that was the wrong approach."

"I would hardly call 'touching your breasts' one of my fears," Peach said. "But uh, to put it bluntly… are you-"

"Attracted to you? A little bit, I guess." Peach let go of Micaiah, but the two women continued looking at each other. "It might just be narcissism, though. I see a lot of myself in you, Peach, but I also see a lot of my faults in you as well. You've embraced a lot of the feelings and emotions that I tried to push aside while in the Apex… and you're a much better person for it."

"If it makes you feel better, I've done my fair share of things I regret," Peach said. "But… I'm sorry, Micaiah. I don't… I don't think of you in that way. You are my friend and ally, but…"

"No, it's all right. That's another thing we have in common: we're both pining for lost loves." Micaiah tugged at the bottom of her scarf. "I lost the man I loved in a war a very long time ago. That… drove me to do things that he wouldn't have wanted me to do. Eventually, the Apex came to our world, and I joined them to make a difference in the wider universe… but I only committed even greater atrocities."

"I don't know if he would have agreed with my actions either," Peach said, wiping away a tear. "But I don't think we should dwell on the past that much. We've all done things we regret later in life, but we need to learn from them so that we don't make the same mistake again."

"That phrase was old when I was young," Rosalina said, having glided over to them. "Good advice, yes, but not exactly the most original thing in the universe."

All three women partook in a good round of laughter, temporarily pushing away the tragedies of the past and trials of the future to enjoy a brief respite of happiness in the present. Indeed, it seemed as if the moment was frozen in time…

Rosalina looked around, and noticed that both Micaiah and Peach were literally frozen in mid-laugh. She took stock of the Observatory, noticing first that the colours of everything within seemed to be washed out, but more importantly, that everything was frozen in time, excluding herself… and a shadow in the corner of her eye.

"So you've come," Rosalina said. "I'm surprised you've left me alone for so long."

The shadow before her grew and took a solid form. It was a man, an incredibly tall man with skin of a dark greenish hue, wild red hair and glowing golden eyes. He was dressed in black armour that appeared to be leather at first glance, but the pulsing red and blue lines along the seams and the odd rigidity of the plates gave it away as some unknown non-metallic material far more advanced than tanned cow skin. A red gem on his forehead bore the symbol of the Apex within, as did the center of his chestplate; on the back of his gauntleted right hand was a tattoo similar to the one around Rosalina's eye, but the other two triangles – the top and the bottom right – were both glowing.

"You've hidden yourself well," the man said, his voice deep and possessed of a certain self-aware malice. "Fortunately, My traitorous little Love-God led Me right to you, though she is no doubt unaware of that."

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you of all people claimed the title of 'Over-God' of an organization called the Apex. Your ego was always much too large for your own good."

"Far from it; indeed, My ego perfectly matches My rank and level of power." The Over-God held up his hand, displaying the Triforce tattoo on it to Rosalina. "Would you believe that the Triforce of Courage almost literally fell into My hands? Its protector came to slay Me, but he was little more than a nuisance."

"And now you've come to claim the Triforce of Wisdom, and your wish," Rosalina said. "But go ahead, try to take it from me. My death will split the Triforce into a million pieces and scatter them across all of space and time. The universe will expire long before you can reassemble it."

"You're bluffing, Rosetta," the Over-God said, grinning wickedly. "Because you know that if you do go through with that, I will destroy your Observatory, all of your little Lumas, your homeworld, and everything else you hold dear."

"I consider that an acceptable sacrifice to keep the Triforce out of your hands," Rosalina said, but the slight waver in her voice gave her away.

"You would never let so many innocent lives perish to My hands, Rosetta. You know this, and I know this." The Over-God moved closer to Rosalina, who instinctively took two steps back for every step forward he took. "But I do not doubt that you have booby-trapped the Triforce in some other way. So let us make a deal. You will give Me the Triforce and remove any traps upon it, and in return, I will grant you anything you desire."

Rosalina spat at the Over-God's feet. "I would sooner throw myself into a black hole than accept charity from Ganondorf Dragmire."

The Over-God chuckled at the mention of that name. "It has been some time since I have been called that. But I have become more than that pitiful mortal name ever could have dreamed of. I am the Over-God, supreme ruler of the Apex, and I am a force greater than any other in the universe. Now hand over the Triforce, Rosetta, or I will see to it that you are subjected to fates worse than death until the last star goes dark."

"A better fate than living in a universe ruled by you," Rosalina said.

"We will see how long that nobility lasts."

Rosalina created a bubble-like spherical barrier around herself, but the Over-God dispelled it with little more than a wave of his hand. Thorned purple vines sprouted from his arm and wrapped around her neck, arms, waist and legs, its thorns digging into her skin and completely immobilizing her.

With one final laugh, the Over-God and Rosalina folded away. Colour returned to the Observatory, and time began to move once again.

"I've searched every nook and cranny of the Observatory, but she just isn't here," Peach said.

"As I thought. She would never willingly leave without letting one of us know first." Polari, a black Luma with blue eyes, was the oldest Luma on the Observatory and Rosalina's closest confidant and friend; in the wake of her unexplained disappearance, he'd taken charge of the rest of the Lumas and organized a search for her.

"But who would be capable of kidnapping her? I mean, she's pretty much untouchable while she's on the Observatory, right?" Micaiah said in disbelief.

"Perhaps it was the Apex?" Peach said. "You said that their folding technology had pretty much infinite range."

"The Observatory's protected against such things," Polari said. "We should've detected any attempted intrusion, but I've run every diagnostic I can think of and checked each camera three times each. And nothing. She was just…"

"Here one second, gone the next," Peach said. They stood in silence, contemplating how such a thing could happen; but Peach, thinking about a few comments and events that had happened in the past few months, started putting the pieces together.

"Micaiah, you were telling me that you've seen the Over-God fight, right?" Peach asked.

"It wasn't much of a fight. The other guy had defeated Meta Knight, but the Over-God just disappeared, reappeared behind him, and burned him to a crisp. It was over in a few seconds, probably less."

"And you said it wasn't magical or technological, or just him being really fast," Peach said. "I think I've seen something like that before, too, but it didn't occur to me until now what it really was." She turned to Polari, and asked him "Do you have access to Rosalina's contact list?"

"I do," Polari said.

"Do you think you could contact a man by the name of Jotaro Kujo?"