WARNING: Mild description of suicide.

Professor E Gadd's house was odd, to say the least. From the outside the whole building was crooked toward the left, it was shaped oddly too. What should have been rectangular shapes were morphed and almost looked like a pyramid. To anyone outside, it seemed inadequate for a home. But to E Gadd, it was all essential.

Inside the house, each room was littered with stacks of blueprints, pieces of machinery, or glowing liquids. Some of which was leaking onto the floor. However, he was too busy for that, he had bigger problems to fix. In his basement, he had a containment chamber, designed to hold anything otherworldly. Aliens, ghost, anything that was, as he called it, "Too strange." And he would watch from the outside observing whatever he had lurking within it.

And what he currently had inside was… interesting.

A very large, oval-like shaped creature, floated around inside. It had dark red skin and wielded a red flaming torch. The nightmarish creature tried teleporting out, but E Gadd was prepared for that. Whenever it tried it was electrocuted, leaving it stunned. E Gadd couldn't stop looked and writing every possible thing he saw in the creature. The way it moved its body, the hellish magic that loomed around it. And the way it spoke.

"It won't matter if I'm in here. The child will find me." The creature chuckled. E Gadd had been keeping count of how many times it said 'child', so far it was eight. He had kept this creature in the chamber for a few days now, it always spoke of a weird group called "The Grimm Troupe." E Gadd had to know more.

"What is this child you speak of? You've mentioned it a few times now."

"You are not of the troupe; therefore, I will not say." The creature again chuckled.

"Again, you keep it a secret." E Gadd sighed. It was day three and he only had a few recurring notes; child, troupe and master. He decided to try his luck again. "Who's this master of yours?"

"If you join, I'll tell you."

E Gadd was about to respond when he heard a knock on his front door. "Will continue this later." E Gadd left the creature and made his way to the door when he opened it, he saw Princess Peach.

"Peach! Oh my god, nice to see you." E Gadd went and gave Peach a hug which she returned.

"Hello E Gadd, it's great to see you too."

Before E Gadd could continue to talk, he quickly noticed of Quirrel, who stood beside Peach. "Who is this?"

"This is Quirrel, Quirrel meet Professor E Gadd."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Quirrel offered his hand which E Gadd shook.

"It's nice to meet you as well. Come in, I've got coffee."

Peach and Quirrel walked inside while two guardsmen took watch by the front door. They followed E Gadd to his small kitchen where he pulled three mugs out from his cupboard, he took his fresh coffee and poured a fair amount into each and put them on his table.

"So," he said as he sat down. "what brings you to my home?" Peach and Quirrel took their seats, Peach held her coffee but didn't take a sip. Quirrel gave it a taste… he wasn't a fan but remained silent.

"I'm here asking for your help. Have you seen these Red Flames around by any chance?"

"Oh yes of course. It's hard to miss them." he took a quick sip of his coffee. "I even captured one." He said with a grin. Peach almost dropped her mug.

"Wait what?"

"Yup. Got it in my basement." He took another quick sip.

"May you please show us?" Peach set her mug on the table.

"I'd be happy to show you. As well as our new guest."

Peach and Quirrel followed E Gadd to his basement door, they went down a spiral staircase and were soon in his basement. They followed him down a hallway and along the way Quirrel took note of everything he saw. There was E Gadd's large computer, with twelve screens in total, although to Quirrel it looked like magic. He and the others stepped over leaking ooze like liquid that was over the floor. And near the end of the hall, Quirrel took a quick peek of a larger room to his right. It was a big room with multiple portraits hung up, most of which were humans in with either blue or purple skin. Quirrel merely shrugged, he assumed they were just relatives.

Soon E Gadd led them to the room at the end of the hall, inside was his containment chamber, which held the nightmarish creature.

"Behold, a keeper of a Red Torch." E Gadd waved his hands in the direction of the creature. Peach took a long look at what she was seeing. Peach had seen many demons in her life, and this one was no different. The Creature just stared back never breaking eye contact, as she moved around the room its head turned in her direction. Just by its looks, Peach had a sinking feeling that she couldn't make peace with these creatures. She came to E Gadd asking for a new weapon, but she still didn't want further violence. She tried anyway.

"Hello there, what is your name?" she asked.

"I am Grimm Nightmare, member of the Grimm Troupe." He said with a deep sinister chuckle.

"What's so funny?"

"What your trying to do, won't work. Master wants the flames of this kingdom, and you can't stop him."

"Does this master have a name?"

"Grimm."

"He named his troupe after himself?" The creature simply chuckled in response. Peach hadn't even met this Grimmyet, but she was already not a fan of him. He must have quite the ego she thought.

"Oh, so now you tell me the masters name," said E Gadd. "Three days I've had you here and only now?"

"It was fun seeing you suffer." Chuckled Nightmare.

Peach brought E Gadd away from the chamber so she could speak with him alone. "E Gadd, I think we have enough info to know these creatures are dangerous. I think it's time we come up with a way in ho to kill them."

"That soon? But I wanted to experiment more."

"I know you love learning but, these things are destroying my kingdom as well as the others. The reason I'm here is that I need you to find a way to kill them fast and quick." Peach and E Gadd turned back to the chamber, the creature was now looking at Quirrel, who tried to start a conversation with him. "Each time people try to fight these things they win and then just disappear. I need a way to fight them, do you think you can do that?"

E Gadd looked back at the chamber, and then back at the creature. "Hmm." E Gadd over the past three days took note that the creatures weren't of alien or ghost origin since they could be harmed by mortal means such as electricity and-

BINGO! He thought.

"Electricity!" he shouted.

Peach backed up out of shock and Quirrel and Nightmare looked in his direction. E Gadd was suddenly at his workbench, tinkering away at whatever was near him. The sounds of metal on metal, screws turning, and a constant "ZAP" sound continued to echo in the room for two minutes and then in an instant, E Gadd stopped.

"Perfect." He said.

"What did you make?" asked Quirrel.

E Gadd turned around and revealed he had made in his hands. The device had a small handle that was attached to a slim long barrel, at the end of the barrel was a thin piece of metal with a small metal ball at the end. It had a similar look to a harpoon gun.

"I present, the Electronic Rifle!" he said with glee.

"What's a rifle?" asked Quirrel. There were no guns in Hallownest, so he did not know of them.

"A device that shoots metal." Said Peach "I have a few back at the castle I can show you." Peach turned back to E Gadd. "But this one shoots electricity?"

"Yes! You see, when I tricked this creature into the chamber, the best and only way I kept it from leaving was with the electro field I have in place inside. Each time he tried to escape it zapped him and left him stunned."

"So… if we use this on them…" said Quirrel.

"We can use it to eliminate them yes!" E Gadd pointed at Quirrel as he spoke. E Gadd then turned his attention back to the chamber. "Now, open the containment chamber."

Peach and Quirrel looked confused, but Nightmare looked excited. "I'm sorry, what?" said Peach.

"Open it. Let's test this new toy." E Gadd aimed the rifle toward the chamber, his finger ready to pull the trigger at any moment.

"Are… you sure?" asked Quirrel

"You heard him, open it." Chuckled Nightmare.

"I hope you know what you're doing." Said Peach as she brought out her golf club from under her dress. Quirrel wondered how she kept it there.

"I always do." E Gadd had a big grin as Quirrel slowly went to the chamber door. He turned the handle and the door opened. The creature didn't move or speak at first, but soon began laughing. In an instant, he disappeared and was soon floating high above them.

"You're a fool for releasing me! Now, BURN!"

Grimm Nightmare came swooping down toward E Gadd, twirling his torch. The red flame burning brighter as he came closer to him, Peach and Quirrel were about to attack, but then stopped when they heard electricity coming from the rifle. In a spilt second, a bolt of electricity erupted from the rifle stopping Nightmare in his tracks. The impact that came from the rifle was as if a hammer slammed into Nightmare's gut, he was held in place, but its power and the electricity burned and sizzled his skin. He cried out in pain and felt his grip on the torch weakening but held onto it. He knew he was about to die but refused to let go of what he was born to protect. Within just a few seconds he burst into flames and a nightmarish glow emitted around them. Then in a blink of an eye, all the flames and glow came crashing together and all that was left of the creature was a single red flame floating in the air, unmoving, without a torch, and without a Grimmkin.

"Splendid!" shouted E Gadd.

"What the hell just happened?" asked Peach.

"I… think we killed him." Said Quirrel.

"Yes, we did. Electricity seems very effective against them. And now we have our weapon."

"Okay so, that's great but, how are we going to get to every kingdom to do this?" asked Quirrel.

"Easy, I get my duplicating machine to remake hundreds of these. Then we send them to the other kingdoms and soon, these creatures will be no more."

"What about that?" as Peach asked, she pointed towards the still floating flame in the room.

"Hmm." E Gadd went back to his tool bench and brought out a few more tools. He then went over to one of his many cupboards and open it. He pulled out what looked to be a vacuum and began tinkering away again. "This was an early model for my Poltergust 5000." He said as he worked. "All I need to do is adjust its settings and mainframe as the containment chamber. And if this works," E Gadd brought up the handle and turned it on. In half a second the red flame was sucked up by the device. "it should work as a way to contain the flames."

"Astounding." Said Quirrel.

"You always have a trick up your sleeve, don't you?" said Peach with a grin.

"Well of course Princess."

"Now, I need you to make as many of these as you can, both the weapon and the vacuum. Then this nightmare will be over with."

"Of course." E Gadd picked up both the Electronic Rifle and vacuum and made his way to a different room in his basement. Peach and Quirrel followed behind.

"Peach?" asked Quirrel.

"Yes."

"Even if we capture these red flames, what are we going to do about this, master Grimm?"

"Well…" Peach thought for a moment, she hadn't thought that far ahead. She didn't have a plan except capturing the flames and kill the creatures causing trouble. "I'll be honest, I haven't thought that far ahead."

"Maybe that's a good thing." Peach looked at him with a raised eyebrow, so he continued. "Focusing on the now and getting it done is good. If you think too hard about the future, you'll just miss out on what you're doing now."

"True, but my kingdom is on the line."

"All the more reason to remain focused on what's in front of you." Quirrel might have been wearing a mask, but Peach knew Quirrel had a caring look underneath. All this stress and worrying, it was never-ending. It kept building and building, and it seemed as if it would keep going till the end of time. But it only took a few words to help calm her. And she was grateful for it.

"Thanks, Quirrel." Peach fought back tears. "First Samus was giving me courage now you." She said with a chuckle.

"Who's Samus?"

3 days later.

Quirrel and Toadette made their way down the main street of the town square. A Red Flaming Torch was reported being seen in the middle of the town. No one was on the main street; everyone knew what these creatures were capable of and stayed in their homes. It was quiet and no sounds could be heard except birds chirping and the wind blowing.

Quirrel had his hand on Dream Blade, as they approached the torch. Toadette had a vacuum on her back and a rifle which she held in both her hands; both were ready to kill. Their attack strategy was simple, Quirrel would engage the enemy keeping his attention on him, once Toadette had a clear shot, she'd fire, and the flame was ready for the taking.

"Everyone seems scared." Said Quirrel as they came closer to the town square.

"It's alright, will have this taken care of." Said Toadette.

Soon there were in the town square, the torch was planted in the middle of the water fountain. Its red glow illuminated over the crystal-clear water pouring out in the fountain, the shadow of it stretched out across the square as the sunset. Quirrel was only five feet away from the torch, Toadette stayed farther back, rifle ready. Quirrel slowly brought out Dream Blade and took another step closer to the torch. He readied himself by taking a fighting stance, held his weapon firmly, and lunged forward toward the torch. It disappeared as soon as Quirrel swung the blade, causing him to miss and land in the fountain, splashing water all around him.

He could hear a deep laugh around him and was soon face to face with a Grimmkin. This one was more… chubbier than the last one he saw, it also seemed to have horns on its head as well. "You idiot." It laughed and swung it's torch, sending balls of fire towards Quirrel. Quirrel quickly dashed away from the fireballs and once again lunged toward the creature. He gave a quick slash with his blade on the creature, making cry in pain before vanishing again and reappearing across from him. It continued to attack Quirrel but missed due to Quirrel's quick reflexes. The fight continued while Toadette waited and aimed at the creature, hoping to find an opening without hitting Quirrel.

Soon the creature got frustrated and floating into the air. It then shook its torch violently around itself, causing multiple fireballs to fly around. Quirrel easily avoided them and noticed that while it shook its torch, it was staying still to do so. He looked in Toadette's direction who had the rifle aimed toward it. She fired and the bolt of electricity that was within it shot toward the creature. The fireball frenzy stopped and the creature was stuck in place, screaming as the electricity burned it alive.

"NO!" it cried. "I'm Grimmkin Master! I can't die! I must wait for the child!" A few seconds after it exploded and all it's flames a nightmarish glow compounded into a single flame mindlessly floating in the air. Toadette put the rifle away and brought out the nozzle of the vacuum and sucked up the flame in an instant, the stop was done.

"Another one done." Said Quirrel as he caught his breath.

"You did well Quirrel, if we keep this up will be done in no time." Toadette said cheerfully.

"FIRE!" someone cried.

Quirrel and Toadette looked in the direction of the voice and saw people binging buckets of water toward small fires cast around the town square. "Oh right, the fire." Said Toadette as she and Quirrel ran towards them to help. The fires were small and were dealt with quickly, no one was hurt, the Grimmkin defeated and the townsfolk were safe. The people gathered around Quirrel and Toadette congratulating them for their efforts.

"You were great." a man said.

"Nice job." a woman said.

Quirrel was glad he could help; these creatures were disturbing these people's peace that he felt they earned. Everyone was nice and thankful and Quirrel was a bit overwhelmed by it. He couldn't quite place it but, he felt happier knowing that he was doing something more with himself. He had a purpose, a job.

Something that he lost in Hallownest.

It was late at night and Peach was busy in her room looking over some reports from the other kingdoms. It had only been three days and almost every Red Flame from every kingdom was being captured. As the flames were captured, they were sent to Peach's castle as well, E Gadd had set a lab in her basement where he kept them contain and did his research. Each day the torch's slowly disappeared and soon her kingdom would be back to normal… as normal as it can get anyway.

Feeling satisfied with her work she got up and left her room, making her way to her private lounging area of her castle. It was room made for only for her, her favorite books were organized on a big shelf, she had a big TV with another shelf next to it with plenty of movies and video games, with a big soft couch to watch from. It also had a great heating system for the cool nights the kingdom had, making it warm and cozy. She sat at the table near the window after getting herself vanilla tea and relaxed in her chair. It felt good to know her work was done for the day, things going smoothly, and that Knight and Samus were coming to her castle.

"Peach." said Quirrel as he knocked on the door "May I speak with you?"

"Of course, come in." as Quirrel entered she gestured towards the chair in front of her, which Quirrel sat in.

"How are you doing? Haven't seen you all day." She asked.

"Oh, I've been fine. It seems these Red Flames will be done soon."

"Yeah, can't wait. And then will find this, Master Grimm, and find out what he was doing. Things are looking good."

"Hey, Peach. Can I confess something to you?"

Peach's smiled faded replaced by a concerning and serious look. "Sure." She said slowly. "What is it." Peach trusted Quirrel, but also had to remember that he came from another kingdom and still didn't know that much about him.

"I've lied, about how I ended up in that lake." Quirrel head was facing down. "And about how I don't want to go back to Hallownest."

Peach was silent for a moment, taking in what he said. She then spoke. "You know, I wanted to ask you more about that." Quirrel looked up. "When we were about to try the penguin suit, you froze at the lake. You seemed like you were somewhere else. There's more you're not telling but I didn't say anything because I know that this is all overwhelming. Especially since you got here you've done a great job helping me." Peach gave him a soft smile, she wasn't angry. She had her suspicions but wanted Quirrel to open up to her slowly. "But don't you want to go back home? Is it because it's, not what it once was?"

"That's only a small reason as to why." Quirrel looked back down to the table. "In Hallownest, I had a teacher, Monomon was her name. I was her apprentice. And…" Quirrel took a quick breath continuing. "When she needed to do something important, she entrusted me with her mask as protection."

"The one your wearing now?" asked Peach.

"No, this one was different, and it's gone now." Quirrel fought back tears that were forming under his mask, all his memories of him and her learning together were flooding back into his mind and he'd be damned if he let them leave his eyes. "When I left our kingdom, I lost my memory, not sure how it happened but soon I had forgotten everything. After some traveling, I found my way back to Hallownest and…" he paused, the next part of his story would be a bit shocking but figured it needed to be said. "I and Knight had o kill her."

Peach's eyes went wide. "Why?"

"As long as she lived a shield protected a temple that Knight needed to enter. She wanted me to do it though, she was prepared for Knight. And I helped but, I didn't too. She was my teacher, my friend." Quirrel didn't realize it but he let his tears come out. They leaked out from the bottom of his mask and dripped down slowly onto the table. Peach put her hand on Quirrel's, lightly squeezing it, he didn't react, only cried quietly. "After we killed her I made my way to the Blue Lake, a large area of water in our kingdom. And just sat near the edge… looking at it."

Peach didn't like where this was going. "Quirrel… did you try to…"

"Yes… I had no purpose, I no longer mattered. And how could I? Our kingdom had fallen, there's nothing left but a small town and a few other bugs." More tears came leaking out. "Knight came to my side at one point, I spoke with him and he said nothing."

Of course. Thought Peach

"And then, he sat beside me. He didn't talk, move or anything. He just sat by my side for a few minutes and then left."

Peach had a million more questions but knew Quirrel didn't have the answers for all of them. Why even ask anyway? She just heard her friend admit that he made a suicide attempt. Heard that he felt useless and nothing left worth living, and Knight was there, he was there, and he didn't try to stop it! It made Peach feel angry, how could Knight just, leave him! She wanted answers but now wasn't the time for that, her friend was crying and wanted to die, those answers could wait. Peach got up from her chair moved next to Quirrel and hugged him, she didn't say anything, only gave comfort for her friend.

"You matter Quirrel, no matter what state your kingdom is in. And if you don't want to go back to Hallownest, that's fine. I will find you a new home, I promise." Peach spoke softly with a caring voice. Quirrel closed his eyes and hugged her back and was no longer soft as he cried, he let it all out. They stayed in their tight hug for a few minutes before Peach let go, Quirrel did the same. He took a few deep breaths and took a long sip of his tea.

"Thank you." He said quietly.

"I'm glad I could help."

"Well... I'll be off to my room. Goodnight Peach."

"Goodnight."

Peach took her seat once more and took a sip of her tea. She had no idea her night was going to end like this, seeing Quirrel cry like he did was heartbreaking, plain and simple. And Knight was involved in this then she thought, and she wanted answers as to why he left Quirrel alone. But for now, she would relax, drink tea, and sleep well knowing that this Grimm Troupe was coming to an end.

"It's almost over." She told herself.

"That's her room, up there." A deep voice softly spoke in the thick forest outside Peach's Castle.

"Thank you, my friend. Are your troops ready?" replied a deep, raspy sinister voice next to the other.

"Yup, I still don't get why we didn't grab the flames while they were being delivered to her castle." The voice mumbled

"It's easier if all the flames are in one place, wouldn't you agree?"

"…. I guess that makes sense." The man sounded embarrassed.

"Once we grab them, return to my tent and will finish the ritual."

"Sounds good. Oh yeah, you're not… going to hurt her, right?" the man sounded concerned for Peach, even though what he was about to do would the opposite.

"That would be my last intention, my friend." The sinister voice sounded calm and soft as he reassured his ally.

"Then what is your intention?"

"To make my acquaintance."