Through the night, it was a long and arduous process for eNeMeE. With being stuck in the shadows, feeling his body be so distant from itself that he could not move, and the pressing blackness that held him down like a suffocating sand, it was very boring. Even moreso with Meta Knight legitimately passed out. Though eNeMeE had talked at him, in hopes of annoying him and constantly waking him, it was to no avail. After Meta Knight had gotten into bed, argued enough with the wizard deliriously, he'd fainted again.
Perhaps eNeMeE had given him a concussion. Oh, how delightful! If only he could see, if only he could get closer. If only he could dig his claws into Meta Knight's flesh, lacerating him deep enough for the tyrant's fingers to come out the other side, separating the knight into six clean ribbons. If only he could drink in just how injured Meta Knight was from the fall from that ship, if only he could destroy him while he was so vulnerable and so arrogant right now. Sleeping infront of him! Him! It was an action worse than smugness, it was so indescribably confident that it boiled in him a new sense of rage. He would've been practically shaking from it had he a body, but he'd settled for a ferocious, constant snarl.
With no one else to entertain him, eNeMeE formed his own way of passing time; watching Meta Knight die in his imagination. Thinking of the oh-so-beautiful ways he could rend the knight, break him in two, and thoroughly cook the other's brain into a fine slime of despair and agony. But alas, as he'd tried to reach, tried to do something, he was brought back to his bleak reality that he'd been stuck in for the past who-knows how many hours at this point. And that bleakness turned him back from sadistic glee to cruel, disdainful and hateful anger.
He was internally like a caged Fire Lion; pacing its containment looking for something, anything to do, and only having two different toys to play with. The restlessness was unbearable, and the thought of going to sleep while so supposedly vulnerable was equally so. Trying anything other than infuriating himself seemed absolutely fruitless. Though, yes, he tried.
Attempts to bring himself through the shadows into the sludge-like form he'd been growing more used to proved to just have bubbles pour from the walls onto the floor, back into himself. They were darker than dark, and consumed once more by his body which covered everywhere except for Meta Knight's dimly lit eyes and the crack under the door.
He'd grasped at the light from both sources, clawing at it like he were clawing at sand, unable to latch onto anything long enough to get anywhere significant. Escape slipped through his fingers, and he'd cursed himself lowly for letting himself even be brought here in the first place. Meta Knight couldn't've known what it did to him, and to be fair, neither had the wizard. He'd felt it at the edges of his form back at the festival; the night's darkness pulling at him against his whim to smother him in its embrace away from the stupid star-shaped lights in the town.
This would be the last night he'd spend like this, eNeMeE swore to himself. Soon, the day would come. The demon thought to himself of what he could do, still stuck within the restraints as he was.. A plan creeped into his mind, soft and quietly turning amongst the rusted machinations of his mind. Right now was a calm before the storm, he'd soothed himself with the thought.
He'd heard a slinking outside of the room. It was so late, who could it possibly be? Perhaps, oh.. Oh right, this castle is full of Waddle Dees. Well, there was no harm in making himself known to the residents of the castle. If he recalled, they were quite receptive to his company..
"Who's walking outside my door?" eNeMeE's voice was pressed against the wood.
There was a startle, a stumble, and the drop of an object. eNeMeE chuckled, sinister at the misfortune of the frightened creature on the other side. He'd kept his gross slurping to himself this time, though. There wasn't really much of an audience this time.
"Do you recognize my voice? I'm sure you know who I am."
There was no response for a moment, until eNeMeE heard the other person clear their throat.
"Yeah.. Why-"
"Why I'm here isn't any of your concern, Escargoon," if eNeMeE had any teeth right now he'd be grinning ear to ear, "now, I want you to listen to me very carefully."
"H-How do you know my name?"
Escargoon questioned loudly, startled and growing more frightened by the moment. eNeMeE'd snickered darkly, then sighed.
"Meta Knight told me it. He said it back at the festival. I was there, you know. Sitting.. Waiting, watching. You said your motto is 'forgive and forget'. Not to mention, I see you in Meta Knight's memories, and some old ones that I've seen.. You've collaborated with me before. I'll be willing to forgive and forget you collaborating with that pink-haired wench if you do something for me."
"What's in it for me? How do I know you won't just turn around and throw me out as soon as I'm done being useful to you?"
"Do me a favor and when I get out I don't kill you. Don't do me a favor, I get out, and you're going to be lumped in with the rest of the innocents in the land. I'll round you up and make you slave day and night on a new empire for me, working in mines, hammering away in construction, pouring your soul out until you go blind and deaf from all the noise alongside your king and subjects. Or, you can do me a favor and be better than all of them. Don't you want to have some real power for once?"
eNeMeE felt the fear surge from the snail on the other side. The silence, the slinking steps backwards, all of it was a telltale sign that perhaps he'd gone too far with his threat. With bated breath, he hoped against himself it wasn't too much. He hoped the snail was truly desperate enough to value himself over the universe. eNeMeE didn't know him at all, and he had to put his faith in a hunger for power that may have not even existed.
"How do I know you'd keep your word?" Escargoon asked. eNeMeE kept his jubilance to a minimum.
"It doesn't matter to me if you do or don't do whatever. One builder more, one builder less, it doesn't matter. But what does matter is how many people I have working for me in other areas. What would you want to do with your life? I know no one wants to spend their life sucking up to someone bigger than them, like you're doing."
"I'm not-"
"You're a cheerleader, I can tell. What do you want to do with your life?"
"..I've got a doctorate in botany, I've written books on the wildlife around here. I think that, or maybe robotics would be the best thing for me. I've just never had enough money or time for either."
"I will give you what you want, Escargoon. You will be valuable to me if you do this for me. And if you are valuable to me, you will get more time and more money than you could ever dream. You could have your own lab, your own research team.. So long as you do one favor for me now. Have you ever heard of investment?"
"Yeah."
"This'll be yours. You're paying very little for a lot of bonds, right now. And the return will be more than you could ever dream ."
Escargoon was quiet again. The snail sure knew how to keep the wizard at the edge of his seat with this conversation, but the feeling was more than likely mutual. A demon bargaining with a mortal, oh what a thrilling exchange. The fact that Escargoon was entertaining the thought just made it all the better. No arguing, only sweet-talking.
"King Dedede got turned into a rifle, I don't know when or if I can turn him back. But if I do, and if he gets back on his feet, what would ya do with him?" Escargoon was a bit somber talking about Dedede. Perhaps the object he'd heard clatter earlier was that gun.
"Is he important to you?" eNeMeE questioned back.
"..I don't know." Escargoon responded.
"Well, you can decide what to do with him when we get to that bridge. We'll cross it when we get there. Are you going to assist me, or are you going to be stupid?"
"I really shouldn't be doin' this.. But.. So long as you let me decide what happens to his majesty, I'll help you."
Escargoon's agreement lent eNeMeE to chuckle loudly and sinisterly. Escargoon probably nervously looked around before he put some nervous 'haha's in there too, as he not quite sure what the wizard was laughing about but wanted to join in for the sake of being agreeable.
"I want you to make me a big spotlight. The hugest one you can imagine and as strong as you can imagine, like, practically the sun as a concentrated beam. Keep that guy as a gun for now, we'll need him like that. You need to be able to tell him to tell the Waddle Dees to make it. You just design it. I'll fix gun-boy myself after everything's done."
"How big would the light need to be? What're you thinking?"
"As big as you can possibly make it, that's how big. And I want it pointed at a mountain. Or cliff. Or whatever. A huge surface. It needs to be far away so the light's circle or whatever can still be outlined on it, but not so close that the circle's tiny. Make it huge. You can figure that out, I'm sure. You're smart, aren't you? That's all I'm asking from you. One building."
In hindsight, calling this a small favor was terribly ironic. Escargoon wondered about it too, surely, then sighed.
"Alright."
"YES! YES.. Oh, you don't know how excited this makes me. This is so good. Soon, oh, soon.. Make it quickly, too, they're planning on getting rid of me. Those twerps and those bucketheads. You need to be quick. Just focus on making it, don't do anything else other than make it. Do whatever you can to make it, got it?"
"Yeah, yeah, I heard ya. I.. I'll get it done, no problem at all."
"I'll be in touch." eNeMeE added as he'd heard Escargoon begin to walk off.
For once, he was grateful he'd been so alone, without Meta Knight to talk to him. With him awake, eNeMeE probably wouldn't have even heard the snail over the sound of his own monologuing. He could only hope that the snail would get it done like he said, or that some other opportunity would present itself within the coming hours. The thought of imprisonment wasn't a pretty one.
Just being in a dark room felt like prison enough, even though Meta Knight was right in-front of him. In all senses, this was as close to Meta Knight as he'd ever been. The shadows were him. It was a revolting feeling, being so incapable at the moment. If only he could move, if- wait.
"Wait." eNeMeE called out. "Wait, Escargoon?"
No answer.
Shoot.
If he had just asked the snail to open the door to the room even a smidge, he could've wormed his way out and worked on his magic while Meta Knight was none the wiser! Ugh! Now he missed his chance, of course. He was so overcome by getting his genius plan approved he hadn't thought of his situation at the moment until after he was alone again!
eNeMeE growled and grumbled, and he would've facepalmed and surely done a whole manner of other funny, pouty facial expressions had the ability. Alas. It was only him, a fainted Meta Knight, and the darkness staying the demon's hand. How long could one orb sleep, anyways? He recounted seven hours was the typical amount of time he'd spend in the other's dreams, but with no way to tell how long it'd been.. It was bound to be a long night.
It occured to him that fainting and sleeping are two different things. However, since he only did one of those things, he hadn't bothered to remembered he details of someone being passed out, and what it entailed. One of the details was that being passed out from injury could sometimes render the victim unconscious for a number of days if they were unlucky enough.
eNeMeE's restlessness culminated. He was tired of being alone. He was tired of being ignored, and tired of being stuck. He would not have it anymore, and the only reason he'd resisted before was because he thought he could keep himself preoccupied while in a state of severe disability. He could've done it if Meta Knight were there to even acknowledge him, but he wasn't. What was the point of waxing poetic death threats if the dude they're meant for couldn't even really hear them?
So of course, the best way to get attention.. eNeMeE'd begun practically roaring in anger, loud enough to shake bricks and tremble the meek. He would not be denied, he wouldn't be ignored, he wouldn't be shoved away into the dark like some cosmic mistake ! He was the lord of all that was evil, he ended the lives of countless people and destroyed the happy endings of countless more! No one ignored him, not if he had something to say about it! And oh boy, did he!
He made his unrepentant rage well known until he'd heard a banging on the door, a fist pounding quickly and loudly. A snarl responded to the pounding as dark claws scratched at the little form they could get underneath the door's crack.
"Riugthreghurtugreigeurhgerhgeiruhgiurehtgiu, ergiuerhgurogwruuighiug, soroight!" The knight on the other side spat.
"What!? What are you even saying? You're in my galaxy, speak Common!" eNeMeE growled right back, half baffled and half still heated from the lack of genuine company. He couldn't work with someone who didn't even speak the same language as him! How was there meant to be a witty battle of retorts when the entire thing was onesided?
"EriguerguergiuERHGUierghuergehrguerhgiueugheiurg." The knight had stated before stomping off again.
He really wasn't getting out of here until Meta Knight woke up, was he? And the idiots out there had wisened up to his antics, seemingly. They wouldn't talk to him outside the knight that couldn't even speak the right language, because.. Well, because they hated him, obviously. Like, duh.
eNeMeE clawed, still, and fought, still. Even though it felt he was getting nowhere, perhaps, perhaps he could get somewhere. He pulled, he pushed, and still nothing gave. But he'd keep at it, because he had places to be, spines to break, and babies to shake.