Chapter 28 – The Charming (Ex) Secretary

A few hours after we cured Adeleine, our group was standing in front of the entrance to the upper part of the factory. We were ready to finally explore this place, but at the same time, we were worried about something.

Scratch that, we were worried about someone.

"Hey, Adeleine. Are you sure you're feeling okay?" Ribbon asked her.

"Ribbon, I told you. I'm fine. I feel totally refreshed from the effects of the Love-Love Stick. Where'd you guys find it anyway? I thought it was lost for good and no one could find it."

"That's what we thought, too. But then we found out that Amitwo had it." I said.

"Amitwo?"

"My clone. We decided to call her that, though she hates it a lot."

"I see. So you took the Love-Love Stick back from…Amitwo?"

"Yep. Pretty much."

"And it was a close battle, too. Amitie almost lost." Lidelle said.

"But then Dedede came in and they both defeated Amitwo together." Ribbon said.

"And Amitie even got a new ability from it all." Arle said.

"New ability? Which one is it?" Adeline asked.

I had to think about it for a quick second. As I'm still getting used to this whole Copy Ability thing.

"Is there an ability that lets you turn into a snowball?"

"A snowball? Hmm…sounds like the Ice Ability to me. How'd you get it?"

"Chilly threw a snowball at me and I caught it with my left hand. Don't know why, though. It's probably instinct or something. But anyway, thank you both again for the help. We wouldn't have been able to cure Adeleine if you didn't."

"Yeah, thanks a bunch, you guys. I really owe you."

"Chilly chilly."

Dedede gave a slight nod of gratitude in response.

"The Ice Ability…so that makes four. How many am I able to hold on to, anyway?"

"Not sure. I don't think Magolor said anything about that, either."

"sigh. Oh, well. I'm not complaining. These powers are pretty neat-o!" I said while holding up a peace sign.

"Neat-o? That's an interesting saying." Adeleine said.

"I say it all the time. It's kinda like my catchphrase."

"Along with "My dream is to be a wonderful magician"." Arle said.

"And "Get real"." Raffina said.

"And "Get really real"." Lidelle said.

"And "Fiddlesticks"." Ringo said.

"Okay, I get it, meanies." I said while getting embarrassed.

"And "Meanies"." Misuki said.

*whine*

I can hear Adeleine and Ribbon giggling at me getting teased.

Why do I have so many catchphrases?


After the struggle we went through with Adeleine's Nightmare Fever and battling Amitwo for the Love-Love Stick, we finally went inside the factory that's said to have a dark and disturbing past.

What we were seeing first was the upper part of the factory. The part where it's supposed to be a mix between a mall and a toy factory. And Adeleine wasn't kidding when she said it looked like that.

We saw stuff that resembled a mall, like elevators and escalators, stores selling clothes and TV's, and…fish tanks(?). But we also saw stuff that resembled a toy factory. Mainly conveyor belts loaded with toys lined up side by side to each other. Some were actually being made right in front of us.

It was really cool, to be honest. I always wanted to know how my favorite toys got made.

"Woah! So many toys! Really cute ones, too!" I yelled with glee.

"I know, right?! They're really really cute! I want them all!" Lidelle was just as excited as me.

"Betcha I can find the cuddliest toy first!"

"No way! I'll find it first!"

"Hey. Focus, you two. We're not here to play with toys." Raffina said to us.

"But, Raffina! They're SO cute!" I whined.

"All we want is a cuddle or two!" Lidelle whined with me.

"sigh. Guys. Don't you remember the last time you've said those exact words?"

"Uh…"

Raffina was referring to the time our class went on a field trip to a toy museum last year. There were so many cute toys, and Lidelle and I couldn't control ourselves. Long story short, we actually broke some of the toys. And Ms. Accord had to pay for them.

"W-We said we were sorry." Lidelle and I said.

"Yeah, but now we can never go back. I mean, I don't really mind. I'm too old for those baby toys."

"Raffina!" I shouted.

"Such hurtful words!" Lidelle shouted.

"Oh, grow up, you two!"

"Raffina's right, guys. We need to stay focused." Maguro added.

"Ugh. Fine." We both whined.

As we continued walking, I got close enough to Lidelle so that I can whisper something to her.

"We can just sneak one out later."

"*giggle* Good idea, Amitie."

A short while later, we were nearing the other side of this mall/toy factory place. It was at this point that we started hearing something. It sounded really good. Majestic, even.

It…kinda sounded like…

"Noble Haltmann, we adore him

Noble Haltmann, we adore him

Kingly lord of time and space!"

"Hey, is someone…singing?" I asked. Everyone else looked puzzled as they weren't the ones singing.

"Every day we wish him glory,

Every day we wish him glory,

Gazing on his noble face!"

"Wait. I recognized that song. And there's only one person we know who sings that song." Adeleine said.

"Really?"

"Yep. And it sounds like it's coming from outside." Ribbon said.

"Whoever this person is, they're really good." Misuki said.

"Right? I'm kinda jealous." Arle added.

"Well, you can meet her outside. That is if she stops singing." Adeleine said.

We were out in the back entrance of the mall toy factory where we saw a slender young woman facing away from us with hands behind her back. She was moving slowly as she continued to sing to herself.

"Master, crush the competition!

In your presence let us stay!

Yours is every star and planet

Now and ever, night and day!"

"Wow…she's really good." I whispered. Then something came to my mind from earlier. "Hey, Adeleine. Is this woman…"

"Yep. This is Susie. But let's have her finish the song first." She whispered back to me.

I nodded as we went back to pretty much spying on this Susie woman while she continued to sing to no one.

"We implore you, dear Haltmann

We implore you, dear Haltmann

Bless our work and be at ease!"

"Pay and ergonomic seating,

Pay and ergonomic seating,

Give us favors such as these!"

"All we wish for you our lord is

That you never lead us wrong!

Rule us all, beloved Haltmann!

That we may all sing our song!"

"*giggle* Haltmann may be long gone as of now, but I have to admit this song is so catchy."

"Well, obviously. Since you keep singing it." Adeleine said suddenly.

"GAH!" Susie quickly turned around to see us standing there. Realizing that we were watching her the whole time.

"G-Geez! A head's up would've been nice, you know!"

"Sorry, Susie. It's just so interesting that you're so immersed with that song. Even though the person based off it is…well, you know."

"Yeah, well he had good taste in music apparently."

"I see."

"So, anyway…are these the girls from earlier? I don't remember there being so many that time."

"Well, it was just these four right here. Amitie, Arle, Ringo, and Raffina. They came here with Kirby to help us out of this mess."

"And to be honest, the mess has only gotten bigger since then." I added.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Susie asked.

"Well…"

We then went on to explain to Susie everything that's happened these last few days. From finding out about the Puyo Souls to having some of our friends from our world appear here without knowing how. We also explained about Amitwo and what she plans to do to the universe. And lastly, we explained how I lost my old spells and gained the Copy Ability like Kirby. It was a lot to talk about. Sure hope we didn't forget anything.

"I see. So now it's more than just getting rid of these jelly blobs. Figured it wouldn't be that easy." Susie said.

"Well, that's why we won't give up. All of us together will, to put it in quotes, "Use this new hidden power, plus the power of the Puyo Souls…to defeat the Dark Soul once again. And sealed it away forever." Although, I'm still trying to figure that part out." I said.

"Well, thank you all so much. Your efforts surely won't go unnoticed."

"No problem. We're all glad to help." I said cheerfully.

"So, what's with that hole right there?" Arle asked.

"This hole takes us down to the lower part of this factory. I looked it up, and read that there's some dark history with this place."

"D-Don't remind me…" Adeleine said. We saw that she was shaking again and was looking away from all of us.

"Adeleine…are you sure you're okay?" Ribbon asked.

"Y-Yeah…I-I'm fine…r…really."

"You don't sound like it." Ringo said.

"Adeleine. You don't have to force yourself. If you're too afraid to go back down there, we can only have a few of us go instead." I said.

"R-Really? Y-You guys would do that for me?"

"Of course. That's what friends do. They help each other out in a time of need. Right, little buddy?"

"Poyo!"

"See? Kirby agrees. Just relax a little more."

"After all, you only recently got better." Raffina added.

"W-Well…"

"I'll stay with you, Adeleine. I want you to feel really better." Ribbon said.

Adeleine went silent for a bit. Then she let out a sigh before gaining a small smile on her face.

"R-Ribbon, everyone…th-thanks a lot."

"I only want what's best for my best friend." Ribbon said cheerfully. The two began to hug each other out of gratitude and comfort.

Wow. These two are really good friends. I hope we can all stay like that.

After some deliberation, we decided on having me, Raffina, Arle, Ringo, Lidelle, Kirby, Bandana-Dee, and Marx go through this lower factory. Susie's coming with us, but mainly as a guide.

"Oh, one thing I should mention…there's some weird activity going on down there." Susie said.

"Weird? Like what?" I asked.

"Well, I saw these holographic figures carrying this weird-looking purple gem down the hole. I couldn't really tell, but it looked like there was a person inside of it."

"A person?" Arle asked.

"That's what I think. It looked like a girl with a whirly tail. She was completely imprisoned inside that thing. Couldn't move an inch."

"Wait, a girl with a whirly tail?" Lidelle asked. "That sounds a lot like…"

"Yu." Rei said as he flew past us and went inside the hole without any hesitation.

"Rei! Wait! You don't know where to go!" I yelled after him, but he didn't hear me.

"Great. Now we gotta go after him." Raffina said.

"He must really care for Yu, doesn't he?" Arle asked.

"Sibling love, I guess. Although he doesn't really show it that well. Or any emotion, for that matter." Lidelle said.

"Poyo poyo."

"Yeah, little buddy. They do sound very different from each other." I said.

"So is everyone ready to go?" Susie asked.

"Yep. We're ready. We'll be back, everyone."

"G-Good…l-luck." Adeleine said to use. I was able to tell that she still had some fear inside her. What happened down there must've traumatized her deeply. I feel so bad for her, but it also makes me worried. Not just for her, but for us going inside the same exact factory that did this to her long ago.

Just what the hell are we about to experience?

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Nothing much to say here. Just wanted to update this story, as it hasn't been so since October. Feel free to review, favorite, and/or follow the story. Thanks for reading. Later.

*ANNOUNCEMENT* This is going to be the last chapter for the year. I currently now have 5 active stories and it's starting to become too much for me. Hope you guys understand.