"What! Why would you do that?!" Diddy shouted.

"To keep you from leaving," Wrinkly replied simply, her tone bitter and full of anger. "Neither of us will ever leave here. Go to your room, child." The young Tail didn't move. He followed her as she continued down the corridor. "Do you understand? You cannot go outside. If you do, they... Cranky... he'll... he'll kill you, just like he did to the others."

Diddy suddenly felt his entire nbody go numb. So his suspicions on the fates of the other tails had been right all along.

"Wrinkly, I-"

"No," she interrupted, her voice harsh. "I've seen it too many times already. Everyone who falls down here meets the same fate. They come. They leave. They die. Every time I think I can save someone, they leave the safety of the ruins. I just want to keep you safe! This is for your own good! Don't try to stop me, do you understand?" She continued down the corridor at a frenzied pace, the young Tail somehow managing to keep up with her. She stopped abruptly, turning to face him. "What do you think you're doing?! This is the last time I will tell you! Go back upstairs!"

"I... I won't!" Diddy replied, pursuing her up to the aforementioned door. "Don't I have the same right to find my way out that they did?!"

An eerie silence came over them. Wrinkly kept her attention to the door, not even bothering to look at him now.

"You're just like all the rest. All of them worried about nothing but finding their way back. I could have taken care of them, I could have made this their home. But none of them wanted to stay." She turned around, snapping her fingers to materialize a blue flame in one hand. "If you must insist on leaving, I advise you to show me that you can defend yourself from those who will hunt you down. Go on. Prove yourself."

The red heart emerged once more from Diddy, and he knew it was serious this time. He honestly didn't want to hurt anybody, even if they were trying to hurt him.

"I don't want to fight you," he said calmly, being rewarded with several lines of blue fireballs for his efforts.

Wrinkly said nothing, even after he prodded her a few more times. The flames kept coming at him, essentially begging that he stay, and Diddy soon noticed his HP was running dangerously low. Still he fought on, avoiding as much as he could, until he noticed the fires were just dodging him instead of the other way around like it should have been. He looked to her face then, seeing a saddened expression, and realized that now she wasn't even trying to harm him.

"...What's wrong?" Diddy asked, not even moving from where he stood now as the flames went around him. Her eyes were cast to the floor.

"It's pathetic, isn't it?" she murmured, slinking down as the small heart returned to him. "I can't even save one of you. I know you want to go home, dear. I'm sorry... I understand your desires. I know you probably wouldn't be happy here once you got used to it. I'm just so afraid. I'm so sorry."

"Don't be." Wrinkly looked at him to see that he had joined her there. He held his arms out for a hug, a reassuring smile on his face. "I don't know what's going to come at me past the doors, but I know I'll make it."

She looked at him for a moment before accepting the embrace. She patted his head, not wanting to let go for fear of the danger awaiting him. It seemed like forever until they finally broke apart and stood back up.

"Please be safe."

Diddy nodded, and watched her leave without a word. Soon even the echoing of her footsteps was gone, and he was left in dead silence. He took a minute to prepare himself for what lay beyond the door, replenishing part of his HP with a piece of sweets he had forgotten that he had. Once he was done, he took a deep breath and pushed the doors opened.

He found himself in a long hallway with darkness at the end. At the end, amidst the semi-darkness, was DK the Planty.

"Aren't you just the cleverist little shit?" the abomination sneered. "Why, I'd bet you think you're the smartest Tail alive, huh?"

"I'm really not in the mood, man," Diddy groaned, his hands clenching into fists.

"Kid, listen." DK got as close to Diddy as he could. "In this world, it's kill or be killed! Just because you were able to go about on your own terms doesn't mean there won't come a time where you would be able to do so." He laughed. "I bet you feel like the best person ever."

Diddy would very much disagree with that.

"DK, come on." The Tail rubbed his temple. "Not everyone has to be as murder-obsessed as you, you know."

"I'm just saying," DK said in a sing-songy voice, swaying daintly from side to side. "Sometimes you'll have to kill. There's no fixing that. Maybe it'll be out of frustration of having to try and try sparing over a million times and not get anywhere with the fight, or maybe it will be out of morbid curiosity, just to see what feeling it would bring."

"Really, DK?"

"Or maybe you could give up entirely and let me obtain the power needed to control this filthy world!"

"Why?" Diddy shouted back. "What could you possibly be able to do with a power even you don't fully understand?"Mother Nature's nightmare turned as terrifying as it had when it tried to kill him earlier.

"I am the prince of this world's future! Oh, but my plan isn't regicide. Have no fear. It's much better than that."

The plant monster cackled evily and disappeared, leaving Diddy to ponder the words he'd spoken.

DK had been right. There would more than likely come a time where he would need to kill, but the gods be damned if he didn't at least try to find a way to spare them first. For now, he would simply try to be the kindest he could.

This thought filling him with determination, he headed towards the outer door and out beyond the ruins.