Kirby, Meta Knight and the two children walked through the narrow, winding cave tunnels, Sword and Blade following closely behind them as rear guards. The tunnel began to narrow further, causing everyone to feel claustrophobic. Fumu kept her eyes trained forward as the icy walls began to close in. The terrifying masses of frozen corpses, displayed within the walls surrounding the group like a grisly museum exhibit, were now too close to ignore. The entire group pressed forward, tired, tense, fearful of the naturally-preserved mummies that could come to life and attack them at any second. Fire Kirby suffered the most, the young boy using every last ounce of his energy to maintain a steady heat level for the sake of his friends.
In time, a second light could be seen beyond Kirby's fire crown. A cold, blue light glowed eerily beyond where the group stood. Everyone looked up simultaneously.
Fumu clasped her hands together. "There's a light! Could that be…?"
"The Necromantic Orb! We found it!" Bun cried, jumping for joy. He began to break into a run past the group.
"STOP" A deep voice commanded.
Bun skidded to a halt, his shoes haphazardly slipping on the ice as he clumsily slowed down. He turned to look at Meta Knight, who was the one that called out to him.
"Bun, we must be cautious. There is still a good chance that the Necromantic Orb is not alone" The veteran warned, glaring at him with unblinking yellow eyes.
Bun realized how dangerous his actions were, frowning at the thought of charging headfirst into an undead guardian. He imagined what could have happened if he wasn't stopped, the terrible creatures that could be waiting for anyone who dared to come close to the artifact. Reigning in his excitement, the boy obediently fell into place behind Kirby and Meta Knight.
Shortly afterwards, the group reached the doorway. Beyond the door, the strange blue light glowed strongly enough to cast harsh shadows along the irregular, crystalline walls of ice. Kirby stepped forward first, deep blue eyes going wide as saucers as he stood in the doorway. Meta Knight, Sword and Blade peered in as the two children stood behind them on tiptoes, unable to see anything past their armored bodies.
The doorway they were standing in opened into a large, circular chamber made entirely of ice. The high, domed ceiling curved upwards into a roof covered in stalactites. On the cave's floor, framed by an array of rocks and stalagmites, was a small ornately decorated pedestal. At the base of the pedestal stood the Necromancer, his winged back turned away from the group. In the crook of one arm, he carried the Capiwa doll. He held the staff in his bad hand, the good one free and ready to take hold of the Necromantic Orb.
The Necromancer paused as he loomed over the Orb, his heart racing wildly as he stared into the painfully bright blue light that emanated from the fabled artifact. This was it. The thing that he had tried to obtain for years. The item that countless legendary wars were fought over, before even the time of Nightmare's reign. He had the fabled Capiwa doll in his arm, the one item in the galaxy that could prevent him from immediately having his life energy drained away like the Necromantic Orb had done to so many others. His free hand began to quiver slightly; if he was wrong, if the Capiwa's power was truly just a myth, he could very well kill himself by attempting this. The ex-Star Warrior exhaled sharply as he steeled his nerves, free hand closing into a tight fist. He did not come this far to be turned away by fear. He needed this Orb. With it he could remove the burden of life from every sentient being, planet by planet, until his work was completed in the entire galaxy. He could bless them all with the gift of unlife, the ability to never feel anything negative again. He would end the suffering of millions; no more pain, no more starvation. No outside threat could ever harm the galaxy again as every single soul would be unified under one force, all made into soldiers that answered to him without question. His gaze hardened. With a deep, quaking breath, the Necromancer quickly swiped up the Orb.
The Necromantic Orb began to glow brighter than before as the Necromancer seized it. A rapid gust of wind suddenly rose from it, tugging several wing feathers loose and nearly blowing off his mask. The winged creature held onto it tightly, refusing to let go as the winds swirled chaotically around him. Slowly, the wind died down. The object felt strangely warm in his hand, just like it had before. However, he could tell that things were different this time. There was no pain. The Necromancer tightened his grip; already, he could tell that the Capiwa doll must have worked. He held the Necromantic Orb up to his green eyes and marveled at the perfectly round sphere, the incredible power he held in his hand.
Kirby brought a hand to his mouth nervously as Meta Knight's piercing yellow gaze began to dim. They were too late; the party had arrived just in time to watch the Necromancer successfully take hold of the Orb.
"No…" Meta Knight murmured, deep voice barely above a whisper. "No…"
"There must be some way to stop him" Blade said softly, noting that the Necromancer still had his back to the group and did not seem to have noticed them.
"We have no choice but to try" Sword added in a low voice, nodding in agreement as he withdrew his weapon in a slow, steady motion in order to be as silent as possible.
Meta Knight looked around the room. Immediately he took note of the amount of stalagmites that rose from the ground, each appearing to be large enough for bodies to hide behind. He knew that the warriors needed to try and stop the Necromancer somehow, even if attempting to do so was suicide, but the children were helpless and needed to hide.
"Fumu, Bun" Meta Knight whispered hoarsely, the two siblings leaning closer to him in response. "All at once, we will run in. That stalagmite, over there" a gloved hand emerged from the folds of his cape, pointing to the nearest pointed structure in emphasis, "Run there as fast as you can and keep hidden. You need to stay safe. Sword, Blade, Kirby and I will attack him."
Fumu bit her lip, feeling the start of tears at the edge of her eyes. "But Sir…he has the Necromantic Orb now…you guys will-"
"We have the element of surprise right now" Meta Knight interrupted before Fumu could finish her sentence. "It's our best chance."
"Everyone" Meta Knight said, the others' faces leaning in closely around him. "On the count of 3, we charge."
Sword and Blade nodded simultaneously, Kirby doing so a beat behind them. Bun pulled his hat further down over his head until it nearly shielded his eyes, hyperventilating into his scarf. Fumu looked at her younger brother and put a comforting hand on his back; unable to keep her tears back any longer, they silently rolled down her cold cheeks.
Meta Knight faced forward, withdrawing Galaxia in a smooth, silent motion.
"One…two…three."
At once the group burst into the room, moving in as fast of a pace as they could manage without making any noise. Fumu and Bun hugged the wall of the cave, heart pounding as they both used sheer willpower to not break into a noisy, panicked run. The two children did not have to go far until they reached their destination, disappearing into the network of stalagmites by the cave's walls as soon as they could.
Meta Knight, Sword and Blade remained out in the open and broke into three separate paths, each closing in on the Necromancer at a different angle. They were silent except for the faintest rustle of their armor, creeping forward at a slower pace than Fumu and Bun did. Kirby moved in a different direction separate from the knights, hugging the wall on the opposite side of the room across from Fumu and Bun.
"I know you're here" a voice sneered, the body it came from not even bothering to turn around.
All three knights froze in place, shocked that they were caught so easily. The Necromancer lowered his black wings and turned slightly, glancing at them out of the corner of his green eye. The advancing warriors were stealthy, but even Nightmare's most highly-trained Biospark Ninjas could not sneak up on the Necromancer. His dark power gave him the ability to sense the presence of life in a room.
"And you", the Necromancer said, turning to his right and facing a seemingly empty group of rocks. "You're out there, too. Face me!"
A fireball hurtled towards the Necromancer, seemingly from out of nowhere. The other knights scrambled back as the startled Necromancer, who was not expecting a projectile attack, took wing in an attempt to dodge. He fell to the ground, yowling in pain as a section of his wing got seared.
The Necromancer's green eyes darkened until they were as red as his skin, two scarlet orbs peering out from behind his skull-shaped mask. He held out his injured wing, inspecting the damage; he was lightly singed, with a few of his primary feathers gone, but it was nothing serious. It made him angry.
"You will pay for that…" The Necromancer stated in a voice as icy as the cave they stood in. "My first command to the Necromantic Orb will be to kill the lot of you."
The Necromancer held the Orb high and began to chant, speaking in an ancient, arcane tongue. The orb began to glow brighter, vibrating in the Necromancer's hand.
"Run! Hide!" Meta Knight cried. The three swordsmen dove behind various stalagmites within the cave. Kirby, who had peeked out from a rock to attack the Necromancer with a fireball, ducked back behind the one he had chosen for cover. Fumu and Bun, who had been watching the scene from behind a large stalagmite farther away than the others, quickly pressed their backs against the icy formation and squeezed their eyes shut. The two siblings held hands, Fumu squeezing Bun's tightly.
"Goodbye" Fumu whispered.
Within a second the Necromantic Orb flashed. A searing bright light, so overwhelming that even the Necromancer himself had to shield his eyes, enveloped the room. The blast swept through silently. A split second later, a gust of wind blew through the cave with the power of a cyclone. The wind whipped through so violently that several stalactites rattled, crashing downwards from the ceiling and shattering on the cave's floor. Slowly, after many seconds, the bright light faded. The Necromancer stood there, staring at the Orb with eyes shining blue with joy.
"Such power…" the Necromancer gasped. He then paused, whipping his head around as his black wings flared in confusion. Something was wrong. He could still sense life.
Fumu opened her eyes. The first thing she was aware of was her chest rising and falling – she was still alive. She could hear nothing but a loud, persistent ringing in her ears. Fumu looked to her right; Bun was still beside her, back pressed against the icy wall. They looked at each other with wide eyes. The first thing the two siblings did was clutch each other tightly in a deep hug, as if they had not seen each other in years. Fumu shook her head slowly as she withdrew from their embrace, entire body quivering in shock; she couldn't believe that they were not destroyed by the blast. Cautiously, she and Bun peered out beyond the stalagmite they hid behind. They could see a clear blast radius, rocks and other debris tossed aside around the small sort of crater.
The Necromancer growled deeply. He put the Orb away in a small satchel that hung from his left shoulder, stepping off the platform.
"Hiding behind the ice like cowards" the Necromancer snarled. "It does not matter. The Orb has sealed your fates."
With his good hand now free, the Necromancer switched his staff to his dominant hand. He then began to descend from the platform, walking calmly towards the entrance of the cave. Beneath his mask of bone, the Necromancer smiled. He carefully stepped out of the room, glancing at the area where he received the Necromantic Orb from. His green eyes slowly traveled around the seemingly empty room; six living beings. He could sense them. He could feel the frenzied pulse of their heartbeats.
"Fear…" the Necromancer mused. "Good."
The Necromancer stepped outside of the room and stood in the doorway, the broad cavern becoming engulfed in darkness as he took the Necromantic Orb with him. He then lifted his staff and aimed at the icy opening. With a flurry of sparks, a white laser-like beam shot out of the staff's tip. Slowly, with the precision of a welder, the Necromancer used his staff to trace an outline a few feet above the doorway. He then stepped back a few paces, glancing at the room one last time. The area above him began to rumble, tiny bits of debris forming as the ice above the doorway began to crack. He then walked off at a brisk pace. Behind him, the walls creaked and groaned as a ton of unleashed ice began to fall. The doorway quickly became filled with ice and rock, a cave-in deliberately caused by the Necromancer's magic.
The Necromancer headed back up the tunnel, eyes glinting with glee. The fact that the band of men who tried to assassinate him were still technically alive did not trouble him. His attack from the Orb may have missed its targets, but the attack did more than just shoot a blast of energy; he had left the party a gift, one that they were sure to receive now that they were trapped in the room. The Necromancer imagined the group inside, trapped like rats, scrabbling frantically at the now sealed doorway as the 'gift' granted by his magic caused them to die one by one.
He gave a curt nod to himself. It was over.