1 hour before Alpha's capture and Omega's escape.
The captain laughed giddily as he skipped into the room.
"Hey, Alpha has given us temporary hires!"
Simon perked up instantly. "He's giving us new team members?"
"No, he's letting us pick our own."
A tiny "aww" came from Simon.
"So, we just go home and pick someone to become a teammate?"
The captain glared at 3. "No. You go and find the most able friend you have, make sure that you can trust them, FULLY TRUST THEM. And then we get to meet 'em."
SImon sighed. "I have no friends. Besides you guys, of course."
3 thought about it, while the boys talked.
Is there anyone I know that can do something cool… I know Travis. We went hunting that one time, he killed several animals, most with his own knife… Didn't he cook them as well? Maybe I should take that up with him later…
Luigi didn't have any clues either, as Daisy couldn't keep as big a secret, Mario neither, the princess would just get captured and used for bait, Bowser can't do jack for stealth, which is a priority to being an MVP, so far, no one could hold the MVP mantle… but maybe someone else he knew could…
Alph automatically knew who he wanted, and was already trying to go and get them.
The captain sat down four envelopes. "Take your picks wisely. May they choose to, they could become permanent additions to the team."
Alph ran off. Same with 3 and Luigi. Simon sat there, staring at the letter. "Could… could we use that at any time?"
"Yeah, just make sure you tell us beforehand."
"Ok."
Simon stuffed the letter in his pocket.
With Luigi…
Luigi dropped from a portal,in the middle of some sort of rock architecture. A toad with red spots, an outfit made for adventure, and a headlamp, jumped back. "L-Luigi?! How did you do that?"
Luigi pulled out the envelope. "Hey, Captain Toad, I need your help."
"Well… let's look at the schedule.." Captain Toad pulled out a schedule. "At 9:00 I call the brigade, at 9:30 I go alone, because the brigade is at home right now, at 10:00 I actually figure out where I go, because I have no clue. Yeah, I'm free."
"Are you sure? Like, some months free?"
"Yeah, the brigade says there's some kingdom issues, so I get a huge break!"
"Cool. Because your adventuring skills are needed somewhere, grab my hand!"
Captain Toad grabbed Luigi's hand and they stepped through the portal.
The captain smiled a little when Captain Toad walked in.
"Captain, my buddy's right here!"
Captain Toad walked up to the captain. "So… this guy's the captain… of what?"
"Well, let me explain it in just a minute, go in that room and sit down. The others should return soon."
Luigi beamed.
"He's a fun guy…"
Seconds later, Alph came back with another Koppaite, this one was a bit taller than Alph, wore pink glasses, ditto hair, and seemed… highly interested in the captain.
"What are you supposed to be? Alph, get the Piklopedia out, this is a new creature!"
"Brittany, this is the captain! We get to work under the same person now!"
Brittany, the lady Koppaite that Alph brought in, didn't seem all that interested until, as Alph claimed, he mentioned the pay and food resources.
After careful instruction by the captain, Brittany left to the room with Captain Toad.
3 returned as well. Some emerald colored inkling fella was beside her. He seemed a bit mad. His hair was messy, he wore an emerald colored sweater and jeans, his sneakers were dirty and he could NOT stop staring at them.
"Guys, this is my friend, Travis."
Travis gave a weird judging stare.
"I'm not exactly sure he can speak human, though…"
The captain sighed. "Take him to the room, I'll give them the instructions."
Travis very quietly mumbled something in human, which Luigi swore he heard.
3 took Travis to the room with the other recruits.
They watched the captain walk in, hop onto the highest platform he could get himself to, and speak.
"Ok, you guys, not identical in many ways, never alike, but in this moment, you are needed more than ever."
Travis internally panicked. Oh PLEASE tell me this isn't-
"But today, given you consented it, you become MVPs."
Nonononononononononono, she's not on the good side, not the good side, no, please-
3 beamed happily.
What have you done?
Travis remained calm. Well, his face and body did, his mind went mad over the fact that he was on both sides of a battle between mortal enemies.
What would Billy say? What would anyone say?
"Yes, today we get you guys situated, then…" The captain stopped to look at a message. "Alpha's gone. He's been kidnapped- Ok, please make our guests at home, whilst I deal with this…"
The captain grabbed his things and ran out.
15 minutes later…
Travis sat in silence, thinking to himself.
Now I have to uphold TWO jobs, uphold double the secrets and, even better-
The captain walked in with a familiar green-spotted toad.
Travis and Billy locked eyes for a second. Billy's countenance instantly went to a frown.
Travis mouthed the words, I'm sorry.
Billy scowled and looked away.
And there it goes. I lose one friend who likes to run his mouth. Now what?
3 plopped beside Travis, on the couch.
"What's wrong with you? You're staring off into space. It's creeping me out."
"Oh, nothing… just have to process this whole thing, that's all."
"Well, maybe you will have to learn…" 3 counted on her fingers for a second. "About 557 different languages, but standard testing only makes you learn 225! And you know…"
"One"
3's face went flat upon hearing that. "Well, at least we work together…?"
They sat in silence for a second. Travis occasionally glanced toward 3, but looked away when she looked back.
Meanwhile..
Alph felt himself get dragged away for a second.
Brittany nervously tapped her fingers together.
"Alph, who are any of these… things you've brought me to? Most of them are taller than me!"
Alph smiled. "Not exactly, I'm shorter than you."
"That does not help. The scientist part of me is highly turned on right now, because I don't know any of them!"
"Well, let me introduce you-"
"Are you entirely sure they are safe?"
Alph glanced to the side, as if he were thinking.
"Yes. If you don't tick them off. Because I care for your health, do not anger them. They're fun once you get to know them."
"Yes, but, if it weren't clear, I do not know any of them."
"I know them. I had to sit here with them for a while now, so I know they won't harm you. But I feel a different way about the green Inkling, he just gives off some sort of… malicious vibe…"
Brittany was gone.
Meanwhile, meanwhile…
Mario kept questioning what he and Toad had been told.
"So, you're some sort of Mater Knight-"
"Meta knight."
"Mate Knight, and we are in Kirbyland-"
"Dreamland."
"Whatever it's called, where the king is named King Dededede-"
"Dedede. 3 de's."
"Dededede, and the hero is a somehow heroic piece of pink bubble gum-"
"Star warrior. He is a star warrior."
"Yeah, what you said, and he fights to stop dark matters from occurring-"
"He fights to stop Dark Matter."
"By sucking enemies and-"
Meta knight shuddered before speaking. "No, he sucks them UP. UP. Not… that."
"And becoming them… wait… what if he sucked up a lawyer? Would he then be forced to shapeshift into this innocent lawyer-"
"And copying their abilities."
"Oh, now that makes sense."
Meta Knight sighed. "Yes, you understand now?"
"From what I got…" Mario and Toad exchanged glances. "Somewhat."
"Something is indeed better than nothing… Come with me."
Mario and Toad followed the orb-like warrior through the forest, and into a colorful village.
The creatures there, Waddle Dees, had no mouths. Mario approached one.
"How do you eat without a mouth?"
The Waddle Dee, presumably taking that offensive, replied, frustrated. "It's complicated."
"How do you talk without a mouth?"
"It's still complicated."
Mario gave up and went back to the knight and Toad.
"Why did you come here, again?"
Mario remembered what happened. "Well, because we got transported to another world, where we then survived off of fruit and nothing else for about a week, and then we teleported here. We're trying to make it home, but it doesn't seem to be working."
Meta Knight, as if he just understood, nodded slowly.
They passed a few houses, where some exotic creatures waved and whatnot. Mario was interested in how their hands worked without arms that connected to their bodies, but was never able to ask.
Soon, they neared a large castle, sitting on top of a large peak.
"Woah… Is this King Dededede's castle?" Mario looked up at the magnificent castle.
"Yes, this is King Dedede's castle. Apparently one of your friends landed here as well."
Mario perked up instantly. "Is it the princess?"
"No, unless a huge, fire-breathing turtle is a princess."
Mario sighed, but something was better than nothing, so he continued walking.
Once they reached the top, Meta Knight told them to stay still, while he spoke to the guards.
Toad touched the watch Mario had stolen. "What even is this thing?"
"Well, it's a watch, but tailor made for a toad hand, that's for sure… It's giving me aches."
"Then let a toad wear it, if it's made for toads…"
Mario looked at the watch.
"I don't know about that, but it doesn't seem adjustable, and cramps aren't doing me well, so…"
Mario gave Toad the watch. "Just don't send yourself somewhere stupid, not without us, okay?"
Toad nodded, but couldn't take his eyes off that watch.
Finally, Meta Knight let them into the castle, where Waddle Dees worked and cooked and cleaned. They were everywhere.
Mario followed Meta Knight into the throne room, where a huge penguin-like creature, presumably King Dedede, sat, speaking to Bowser.
"So, I took the chest, but then some weird demon possessed me. It sucked."
Bowser gasped. "So, you got possessed how many times?"
"Well… uhh… I actually don't know the answer to that question. It's happened a lot."
The king looked from Bowser to Meta Knight. "Ay, Meta Knight! This guy's a king too!"
Meta Knight stepped forward. "Your majesty, I have found more guests."
Mario looked up. King Dedede was very large. Very large.
"Mario! There you are!" Bowser ran to Mario. "This is the dork I speak of. We're stuck here, so we have to work together, until we can get home."
"Well, Mr. Mario, it's a pleasure!" Dedede shook Mario's hand.
Toad frowned. "Ok, nice meeting up and all, but we're still missing the princess!"
Dedede leaned in and whispered to Mario. "Who's the big head?"
"That's Toad. He got teleported with us."
"He sure don't look like a toad, but okay…"
Toad sighed and rolled his eyes. "I said, we still don't have the princess!"
Mario looked to Dedede, who stroked his chin. "Well, there was a pink-dressed human in the woods earlier, but the townsfolk say that she was scooped up by Ol' Whispy, which, in our town, is not good."
Mario sighed. "Where is this Whispy? I'm going to have a word with this-"
Dedede stopped Mario from walking out. "Woah, woah, calm down, mustachio! Whispy ain't a nice guy when it comes to taking from him."
Meta Knight stepped in. "Whispy Woods is a tree."
"A tree? You mean to tell me that my princess is taken captive by A TREE?!" Bowser roared, in anger.
"Hold on, now, this ain't your normal tree… it's alive. He's also very hostile and possessive. Suicide comes easy when you take Whispy's things. I think poor Jerry learned that very fast..."
"But we can't leave without her!" Mario exclaimed.
"Well, then we're gonna have to ask Whispy. And by "we", I mean YOU. I have kingly duties to attend to-"
A Waddle Dee came up to the king. "Your Majesty, what would you like for lunch?"
"Uhh… Do you have any more of them ramen noodles?"
"Yes, which flavor?"
"Ya know, the authentic kind, but bring it to me fresh."
"Authentic ramen, hot and ready. We'll be right back with your lunch."
"Thank ya. Now, where was I?"
"You were explaining your kingly duties?"
"Oh, yes. That. Whispy'll give it back if you approach right. But… most of the time you'll just have to beat it out of him… Wait. Maybe…"
Dedede looked around for a second. "If you… well… AY META KNIGHT?"
"Yes, your Majesty?"
"Where's Kirby gone to? Maybe he could help these folks out."
"Last I heard, he was out in the Green Greens with Bandanna, having a picnic."
"That's not far from Whispy Woods. Meta Knight will lead you in finding Kirby and saving tha princess."
Meta Knight looked between them. "Red, come with me. You two, stay here. The lunchroom should be open soon."
"Yeah! I'll have the waddles make extra ramen."
Mario followed the knight out of the throne room and into the village again.
"So… where's this Kirby?"
"Kirby should be… that way."
"Then let's go save a princess."
Back with the agents…
Travis walked into Billy's cell.
Billy shot a tiny glare. "It's you."
Travis felt an unnecessary amount of guilty. "Billy, please, I didn't know my friend was an MVP-"
"Oh, save it. First Amber, the wasteful, to you. The betrayer."
"I did not intentionally betray you, I'm trying to tell you that-"
"You did betray us. You wanna know why? Because, if you were still on my side, you'd have done everything in your power to sabotage and stop them."
"Billy, that's not easy, I'm trusted as one of them now, so I can't get away with what I used to."
"Traitor. First, a wasteful idiot. Now you. A slick, self-centered, scoundrel."
Travis sighed and paced back and forth. "Billy, I'm not trying to be your enemy-"
"You are now. And nothing, nothing, is going to change that."
Travis felt himself panicking, as he tried to get on good terms with Billy.
"I can't lose any more of my friends-"
Billy scoffed. "What? I thought you had no friends, just faked and killed 'em. Besides, you've lost me. Unless you have someone else."
"Not exactly, this one's… a tough case."
"Oh, so a girlfriend then? Well, your girlfriend will be very disappointed when she hears that her lover is on both sides of a war between sworn enemies."
"She's not my girlfriend, just a close buddy…"
"Either way, someone's not getting out of here, and, with the way I'm hearing you, it's not gonna be me."
Travis put his hand on the glass. "You don't say a word or else-"
"Or what? You're gonna kill me? Go ahead."
"No, I can't-... But... ARGH!"
Billy smiled smugly. "I mean, if you're gonna kill me, do it now, I've got places to be!"
Travis gripped his messy tentacles and thought for a moment. That little scamp will put me on blast because he firmly believes I betrayed him. I. DID. NOT. BETRAY. HIM!
Luigi watched from the surveillance cams, thinking as he watched Billy and Travis argue.
What the heck is going on?
Travis slammed the glass. "Shut up. I'm not going to let you just rat me out, like I didn't know you once."
"But you can't do anything if I do rat you out, because we'll be in separate cells."
Travis turned and walked toward the door, but turned and looked at Billy. Billy scowled. "Go on. Leave. Leave me behind, like you did at the stadium. Leave everyone behind. It's the thing you're best at, clearly…"
Travis left.
Once he went outside, he turned and saw Luigi, exiting the camera room.
Luigi went to his own room, but turned and nearly screamed when Travis was directly behind him.
"How much of that did you hear?"
Luigi shivered as Travis got closer. "Come on. Tell me. Spill it, greenie."
Luigi didn't answer. Travis's face went from a convincing smile to a serious stare.
"Talk to me, now. Don't play dumb, don't lie. Just tell me. How much did you hear…?"
"How much did I hear of what-"
Travis slammed the door, leaving them in darkness, but Luigi remained silent.
"I told you not to play dumb, thick head. But, given you're playing dumb, you heard everything."
Luigi's eyes grew wide as he saw the glint of metal in the dark.
"If that gets out to anyone else… well…"
Luigi felt a cold, metallic object touch his neck. "Your brother wouldn't be happy to find you in pieces, would he?"
Luigi blinked and Travis was already gone. Luigi sighed a sigh of relief and walked out. 3 and Simon were watching TV.
Travis had gone home.
Luigi looked around in a fit of anxiety. Mario…
1 hour later…
Simon entered the interrogation room, where Billy sat, and sat down.
"So, we have… nothing in our files for your name, so we're going to call you Green."
Green, or Billy, frowned. "What do you want?"
"Just a few questions."
Billy smiled at the window of glass at the side of the room, where everyone else watched.
"I know a few things you might want to know…"
"Like?"
Billy did a tiny giggle. "Well, I know the names of everyone I worked with, where they lived, and even what they liked to eat."
"...well? Tell me, maybe it'll make this go faster-"
"But Travis knows too. Isn't that right?" Billy chuckled, looking straight through the one-way glass, and into Travis's soul.
Travis looked to the left, where Luigi silently panicked, 3 gave a questioning stare, and the captain put a small grip on his taser.
"...what?"
Billy laughed. "You know, Travis! Your new recruit! Don't think he's just innocent, we worked together, for Gamma. He knows, ask him."
Travis felt a panic attack rising. 3 was about to take action. Luigi was badly trying to act inconspicuous.
"But… how did he get in here, we ran a background check, he was clear!"
Billy fiddled with the plate of donuts on the table. "You can't just run a background check and find out who's an MVP and who's not. Besides, he knows, I tell ya! But, it's not like he's going to tell you. Betcha he's scared for his life, behind the glass."
Travis, who was intensely scared for his life, slowly inched his hand toward the doorknob.
"Even better, he's the serial killer the whole Inkling world's got on blast! Have you seen him in action?! It's a beautiful thing. He was also the one who roughed up your pals, the green one and the orange?"
Travis turned and the whole room had their eyes on him. Luigi was shaking. 3 looked like she was about to absolutely kill the crap out of Travis. The captain was ready to shock Travis.
"And, for kicks, I killed singer kiddo. What was his name?"
"Janet…? You killed him?"
"Well, it was supposed to be a mind-wipe. Poor kid had his Airpods ™ in and crossing waves shredded the heck out of his brain. It took months, I calculated, for his mind to degenerate into a drooping sag of nothing. Anyway, back to the dirty double crosser at hand, sort of a dark green color, about yea high, always has his arms crossed or is drinking something,"
Travis put his arms down from crossing them.
"Yeah, he was my best buddy, too. Sadly, it was revealed that he had taken a job here, betraying everyone he's worked with. Also sadly, he's on neither side, because you're gonna kill him, right?!"
Billy spoke with a rabid excitement, a demented smile across his face.
Travis looked to everyone else. "I can explain."
"You were everywhere we went." 3 mumbled, shakily.
Luigi was shook as well. "Please don't kill us."
Travis tried to cast a PSI move. He was out of power to do this, so he looked at them.
"You were the killer… the… the one who killed the guy at the restaurant, it was you?"
"You need to calm down, I can explain everything-"
The captain had the taser in his hand now. Travis backed slowly.
"Come on, that toad doesn't know anything! Maybe he was talking about someone else?"
The door opened and Simon stood there, with his arms crossed. "Oh really? Because his explanation was enough for me to get my bearings and proof. Proof that it was you."
Travis felt a jolting sensation in his back; the captain had shocked him.
Travis fainted. He looked through the glass, to see a wicked smile come from Billy.
Sadly, our debonair squid has been caught. Billy's my favorite, in replacement to Travis. Wonder how 3 will take it... Not me favoring Billy over Travis, but him getting locked up...
AAAAAAANYWAY, I've written this, like, three weeks ago, to properly enjoy a break. Happy holidays!