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The first to apologize is the bravest. The first to forgive is the strongest. The first to forget is the happiest.

— Nishan Panwar—

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Customer Service was once the top-earning salesman of Nightmare Enterprises. Sure his boss had a sadistic side with homicidal tendencies, but at least he was a rich and savvy businessman who appreciated his contributions to the company. Now he was back to being a nobody. He hated his new life on a backwater planet where his escape pod landed 25 years ago. Yet his only hope for gaining any type of employment in this universe was to remain under the radar.

The door dinged as a new customer entered the shop. To his surprise, it was a man dressed in polished white armor. What a strange sight in this side of the galaxy, but no matter, as long as he paid in cash, it's all good. Perking up, Customer Service recited with a smile, "Thank you for choosing Smarty-Mans' Handyman Repair and Renovation Services! Can I help by scheduling you with a free consultation?"

"Hmph, sure, let's have a talk right here, right now," the knight walked right up to the reception counter and rested his weight against it. "Are you that Customer Service representative?" he asked.

"I am not sure what you mean, sir..."

"The one who was eNeMeE's highest grossing salesman and quite frankly his righthand man-"

"Shhh! Not so loud!" Customer Service hushed Galacta Knight. He peered around the lobby nervously, hoping his other associates did not hear from the backroom. "Nightmare was not so popular in these parts!" he whispered furiously.

"Is that so?" The Knight's scarlet red eyes twinkled with sadistic amusement. "Then I take it you failed to add that previous job experience to your resume when you applied for this piece of work."

"Listen..." Customer service gritted his teeth. "I don't know who you are or how you found me, but I really do need this job!"

"My name is not important," Galacta declined to identify himself. "But I have a few questions for you, worm. Cooperate with me and you shall be rewarded or punished should you refuse..." He raised his lancer. "...by decapitation!"

Customer Service's lip twitched. A seasoned salesman such as him learned to hide his disdain (or in this case, fear) very well from clients. His grimace turned into a plastered smile. "Tell me what you want and then you can go about your way, good sir!"

"The Novas," Galacta blurted. "If you don't know what that is then have you heard of the sentient machines named Golden Sun and Silver Moon?"

"I am well aware of who the Novas are," Customer Service answered curtly. "But if I recall correctly, my former employer had never attempted to acquire the Novas. One of their whereabouts is still unknown to this date and the other is a rusted relic of little use. Years later, however, we were approached by a customer who paid us handsomely to acquire the Silver Moon Nova-"

Galacta practically jumped the counter to the fright of Customer Service. "Who did you sell it to!?"

The disgraced salesman held up his hands. "W-Whoa! Easy there, sir! I-I was getting to that!"

Galacta jabbed his lancer into Customer Service's chest. "Then get talking!"

"W-We sold a map to the Nova's location to Maxx Profitt Haltmann approximately 30 years ago!" Customer Service explained quickly. "Whether he found it or not I do not know!"

Galacta Knight lowered his lancer. He will certainly be paying the Haltmann Company a visit, but first, there was one more thing to know. "Lastly, tell me who stole my revenge!" Galacta demanded.

Customer Service stared at him blankly. "You are going to have to be a bit more specific... what are you talking about?"

"The one who defeated eNeMeE and destroyed his empire before I could!" Galacta explained impatiently. "I want to slay the one who took away the chance of avenging my wife and child!"

"Ahh..." a cruel smirk lit across Customer Service's features. "That bit of information I will take the greatest pleasure in revealing! The one who defeated eNeMeE was that annoying star warrior from the planet Popstar. The name you are looking for is Kirby of the Stars!"

"Kirby, eh? What kind of stupid name is that!?" Galacta Knight grumbled to himself. He turned on his heel with a loud clank from his armor and started moving towards the door.

"...er my reward, good sir?" the salesman had the nerve to ask. He instantly regretted his question, however, as the glare of the white knight fell upon him.

"Your life!" Galacta hissed over his shoulder.

"Hmph..." Customer Service slouched in his seat at the reception counter. "...then that surely was a poor sale," he grumbled to himself.

"Ahhh!" Sirica let out a happy sigh as she exited the washroom with Kirby at her side. The little puffball was humming a merry tune to herself. Sirica secured the towel she had wrapped around her damp hair. "Nothing like a nice warm bath! Right, Kirby?"

"Yeah!" Kirby agreed as she wrapped the fluffy towel tighter around herself.

Knuckle Joe looked up as the two girls reentered the common room. "I swear you guys must be prunes by now. You both were in the bath for hours!" He motioned to the food laid out before him at the table. "The droids even delivered us dinner already!"

"Then it's called perfect timing!" Sirica quickly took a seat beside Joe and Kirby followed her lead. "At last! Finally, something that isn't ramen!" she began to add food to her plate.

Knuckle Joe sent them both reserved looks. "Hey..." he began but was interrupted by the sound of the door chiming. It opened and Susie floated into the room with a pink Robobot suit following close behind her.

"Good evening everyone!" Susie greeted them cordially. "I have come to see if everything was alright or if you needed anything else?"

The robobot suit walked past Susie and went straight for Kirby. It reached down to pick her up from her seat and pulled Kirby to its chest.

Knuckle Joe immediately jumped to his feet. "Oi! What are you doing to Kirby?!" he raised his fists, ready for a fight if necessary. "Put her down you walking tin can!"

"Pinky 002, that's rude!" Susie chided the robobot suit. "You are disturbing our guests while they are trying to eat!"

The robobot twitched. "AFFIRMATIVE... PRESIDENT SUSANNA," it apologized.

"It's okay, I like hugs too!" Kirby giggled as she returned the hug. "I missed you," she told it. "I wasn't sure if you made it or not after our last battle together. I am glad Susie was able to find and repair you."

The yellow lens on the robobot suit lit up. "TO SEE FRIEND AGAIN... SO AM I." It lowered Kirby back to her seat and patted her on the head before returning to Susie's side.

"I haven't seen you in a while..." Kirby turned her eyes to the Haltmann President. "...either of you."

"It's not like I don't want to visit you, Pinky... and I am sorry I was not able to attend your surprise party held earlier this year, but all those restraining orders against me are still in effect," Susie reminded the puffling.

"Considering what you tried to do to Dreamland, I should consider getting one for myself," Knuckle Joe remarked coldly.

Susie placed her hands on her hips as she turned to Joe. "Well, isn't that an impolite thing to say?" she asked him. "It's not like the Haltmann Company has mechanized your planet, er, or…" Susie trailed. "...did we?"

Knuckle Joe sent her a scathing look. "You ravaged so many planets before Popstar that you can't remember the number of victims in your wake! Well, enlighten me: can you at least remember your dealings with eNeMeE?" he spat out the name of the wizard as if it was a curse.

Sirica's jaw dropped. "...what?"

"Is that true, Susie?" Kirby asked her quietly. "You worked with Nightmare Enterprises in the past?"

Susie's shoulders slumped. "Yes..." she admitted. "My late father partnered briefly with Nightmare Enterprises to obtain the materials needed to construct the Mother Computer previously called Star Dream."

Knuckle Joe crossed his arms as he continued to peer at Susie suspiciously. "That brings me to my next question: what were you doing out here in the middle nowhere space?"

"Joe, this isn't the time or place to be interrogating our host!" Sirica hissed at him, especially when they were still at her mercy.

Susie held up her hand to quiet her down. "It's quite alright, Miss. Sircia. I will answer his questions truthfully. I have nothing to hide... with the loss of Star Dream and our change in policies concerning mechanization, our business has slumped. We had to find other means of acquiring what we needed to grow the company. That requires scouting for uninhabited planets or purchasing them from willing buyers."

"Ah, so that is why you're out here in the Kolako Sector," Sirica realized.

"Yes," Susie nodded. "It was merely coincidental that one of my scouts found you when they did. I sent out Pinky 002 to investigate Koolos in hopes of finding some resources hidden beneath the ice. However, it is gone now and I don't know what happened to the planet..."

"That's because it blew up!" Kirby told her.

Susie appeared startled at this revelation. "...you know this by fact?"

"We experienced it firsthand and barely escaped with our lives," Sirica explained. "Miss. Haltmann-"

"Please, just call me Susie."

"-Susie, do you happen to know of a knight named Galacta?"

"No," Susie shook her head. "Not off the top of my head, why?"

"He is the one who blew up Koolos and the resulting shockwave from the explosion caused our ship to short-circuit."

"My...!" Susie gasped. "Well, I am certainly glad I never met this fellow and I hope it stays that way! However, I will be glad to do some research on your behalf."

"Thanks! Oh, also," Sirica just remembered. "I have some files that I had managed to retrieve from eNeMeE's terminal on Koolos but I didn't get the chance to decrypt them yet."

Susie smiled warmly at her. Without hesitation, she offered, "You are more than welcome to use my facility for your research, Miss. Sirica."

"I'm just Sirica, and thank you."

"You're welcome, Sirica," turning her attention back to Knuckle Joe, Susie looked him straight in the eyes and said, "Listen, I cannot take back what has been done before, but since I am now President of the Haltmann Company I will continue to make amends and a take a different approach to how this company runs!"

"I will have to see it in order to believe it," Joe quipped without breaking eye contact, but at least now he lost the edge to his tone.

"I will help you and your friends to return to Dreamland," Susie promised them. "My technicians are working on your ship around the clock. In the meantime, you are welcome to stay here in our guest accommodations. Now if you excuse me, I have other duties to attend to before I retire for the evening."

Susie bowed politely to them before taking her to leave. "Come, Pinky 002."

The robobot beeped an affirmative and followed its creator, but not before pausing for a moment to wave goodbye to Kirby. Once the trio was left alone, Kirby and Sirica turned their glares on Knuckle Joe. Noticing their infuriated looks, Joe grumbled, "What?"

"You were so mean to Susie!" Kirby shouted at him.

"I agree with Kirby on this one, Joe," Sirica said. "You were pretty rude to someone who just saved our lives. Even if Susie has a sketchy past it doesn't matter at the moment!"

Knuckle Joe leaned back in his seat appearing unaffected by their criticism. "She should not get a pass or be instantly trusted just because she helped us. You will do good to remember that she is not a nice person on any account."

Kirby flailed her arms unhappily. "Then what about you?" she demanded.

Joe scratched the side of his nose. "What about me?"

"You tried to kill me to avenge your father!" Kirby reminded him

"But at least I only had a bone to pick with you," Knuckle Joe said. "I didn't take it out on an entire planet!"

Kirby was normally very easygoing, but she not about to let him off the hook on this one. "You still harassed the cappies to find me," she pointed out. "But you've changed and now we're friends! So why can't it be the same for Susie?"

Knuckle Joe facepalmed. "The situation was totally different!"

"No, it's not!

"Yes, it is!"

"Kirby has a point…" Sirica spoke up after a moment.

"How so?" Joe demanded.

"You came to Dreamland with the intent of doing harm; just as I did. I was out for Meta Knight's blood and I did not care who I had to go through to get to him… I just wanted Meta Knight dead. Kirby helped us both see the error of our ways. So why can't it be the same for Susie Haltmann?"

"Yep!" Kirby nodded happily.

"Okay, fine!" Knuckle Joe reneged just a little. "You managed to help me, Sirica, and possibly Susie reform, but mark my words, Kirby; you will learn one day that some things just cannot be forgiven, and some people cannot be redeemed!"

They all said nothing for a long moment.

"Kirby, are you not going to finish that?" Sirica realized Kirby hardly ate anything of the banquet Susie prepared for them to eat. And the few items she did get were still sitting on her plate.

Kirby simply shrugged. "Guess I am not hungry," she admitted.

"You're really starting to scare me…" Sirica trailed.

"Me too," Joe muttered. "To still not have an appetite is not normal for you, Kirbs."

Kirby rolled her eyes at them in annoyance. "I think I am going turn in early," she muttered. When she hopped down from the chair, a stabbing pain shot up through her back. She flinched but managed to stifle her cries of pain.

"Hey, is your back still-"

"I'm fine-"

"But Kirby-"

"I'm fine!" Kirby repeated forcefully. Her two friends got the hint not to pester her. Once the pain receded, Kirby straightened and walked back to the bedrooms. There were two sets of bunk beds already set up. Kirby limped towards the bunk closest to the door and heaved herself onto the lower bed.

Kirby let a silent scream as she leaned forward trying to brace herself. Something was starting to slither out of her back she realized in horror and it wouldn't stop coming out. Paper-thin flesh that was translucent in a shade of pink lighter than her skin. Kirby peered at it closely as she willed it to move. It did jerk at her prompting and she was rewarded with a jolt of pain. Kirby hissed. Whatever was happening, she shouldn't agitate it. Then it began to curve back around on its own. Going behind her back and then to the front again only to follow the same process.

"WHA-" Kirby panicked at first, but then she began to feel sleepy.

Kirby's body went slack as she allowed herself to be tucked away. Wall upon wall built upon the other until her vision of the outside world began to fade into a comforting darkness. It was like being wrapped in the snuggest blanket she ever had in her life. Kirby let out a content sigh as she fell into a blissful sleep.

"Captain Vul, a ship is picking up on the radar!"

"This far in wild space, eh?" the old war hawk crossed his arms thoughtfully. "How far away?"

"Two lightyears, sir."

"…" Captain Vul thought to himself before deciding, "Javelin Knight! Go tell His Rotteness of the approaching vessel!"

"M-Me?" stuttered Javelin Knight. He swerved his seat around in shock to face the captain. "B-But sir-"

"Do as I command," Captain Vul quipped curtly.

"But Skullord commanded us not to disturb him unless-"

"You will be flogged for insubordination if you defy my order!"

Trident Knight huffed under his breath. Captain Vul used to never pass up an opportunity to speak directly with the king before, being the kiss up that he was, until now. "If you allow me I will go alert the King, Captain Vul," Trident Knight volunteered.

Javelin let out a breath. He nodded to Trident Knight appreciatively. Trident nodded back. He didn't why but he had a soft spot for the kid. He was the youngest of the recruits and the most sensitive. Javelin Knight joined their crew by force when they had raided a prisoner transport vessel a short while back. Due to his training and knowledge as a naval guardsman, the King had spared him to serve on their ship.

"Permission granted," Captain Vul turned a squinting eye on Javelin. "Trident will go. Javelin Knight, at ease! You may resume your position!"

"Aye, sir," Javelin recited dutifully. "…you spineless chicken!" he retorted lowly beneath his breath.

Trident cracked a smile beneath his helmet when he heard it. "I will be on my way, captain," he excused him before leaving the command center. Everyone with a healthy sense of self-preservation was afraid to approach King Skullord these days. Trident Knight lacked none for himself, but he was one never to shy away from danger either.

Trident Knight marched down the corridors of the Hidden Dagger to his master's suite. His king could be found nowhere else these past few weeks since the mirror came into their possession from a previous conquest. Trident hesitated a moment at the door before entering. The room was dark, lit with candles, the usual. But the constant peering into the mirror not so much.

The king was also a magician in his own right and had locked himself away into his rooms to study the artifact all day and night. He had mentioned something about it being a gateway to another dimension. He was going to use it to expand his growing kingdom. Personally, Trident Knight hoped the king would fail to acquire what he seeks. No need to spread misery to other hapless beings.

Skullord rarely allowed himself to be pulled away from it anymore unless it was to participate in another looting. He barely even ate anymore, not that he needed to, being an undead boar. Trident Knight wished they never found that accursed thing. "Excuse the interruption your Rottteness, but there is a matter that needs your attention!" he greeted Skullord respectfully.

But the king failed to respond.

"...my lord...?" Trident tried again, but then he noticed something short and round in the mirror. It couldn't be his king's reflection. His majesty was a tall and lanky man, made of nothing but the skin of a pig adorned with the bones of his foes. He was beginning to fear the mirror was haunted.

Trident Knight's breath hitched when the dark figure glared fiercely at him with scarlet eyes and then he vanished. Fading away as smoke being blown out. The mirror's surface brightened, and the shadow lifted. Skullord then buckled to the side as if a puppet on a string going limp.

"...uh, Sire? Sire! Are you alright-"

"This had better be important, Trident Knight!" Skullord growled irritably. He reached up a bony long-fingered hand to rub the throbbing side of his skull.

The King was a cruel short-tempered man. Trident Knight knew he had to speak quickly or else suffer an ill-fate. "A-A ship, my lord!" he exclaimed. "A ship has picked up on our radar!"

Skullord's anger deflated. "How many lightyears away?"

"Only two, my lord. We are closing in as I speak. Captain Vul wanted to know if we should launch a raid or let it pass by."

"Very well, I will dip into the cauldron and see who is aboard and what treasures they have..." Skullord walked over to his cauldron. Trident Knight followed him. Taking great care not to accidentally step on the king's long feathered robe. Despite him being wary of the king, his dark magic was impressive and at many times useful.

Skullord lifted a ladle and dipped out some of the black liquid. Pouring it into a basin and waited. Trident dared himself to get closer to peer into the basin and he saw images quivering upon the surface. Fading in and out like a broken television screen. Brief imagines of a pink-haired woman. An army of robots, hallways, a man and a woman sitting together in a common room. The technology aboard the ship seemed impressive but was of little value to the likes of them.

Skullord's frown reflected Trident's own disappointment with what he saw. "...though grand in size, the ship merely carries four lifeforms onboard..."

"If that's the case, the raid will be an easy one!" Trident Knight pointed out.

"You understand little," the King hissed, causing Trident to cringe. "I need more slaves! We are due to return to Mutocaia within a few days and my palace requires renovations!" Skullord's attention returned to the surface of the black water. "Strange I only see three lifeforms..." he murmured to himself. "Where is the fourth? Wait…" he waved a hand across the surface.

The scene changed to reveal a dazzling stone or was it a pearl, of great size. Colored pink. It shimmered beautifully in the fluorescent lights. Who would leave a prize like that on a bed in the open?

"It's a jewel… and it's alive!" Skullord cried out in fiendish delight. "A living stone!"

The king whirled on Trident. "I must have that jewel, do you understand?!" Skullord all but shouted. "Or else your head will be on a pike if you fail to bring it to me, Trident Knight!"

Trident bowed low. "Then I will not fail you, Skullord," he recited.

"Go quickly and tell Captain Vul to launch the E.E.L! Once the ship's system is shorted out then proceed with the attack!"

"Yes, your Rotteness!"

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Next Chapter: Sins of the Father

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