Author's note: Here's the next chapter and a few answers…except the secret pairing won't be revealed until the next one (sorry). Nikki…is kind of random. She just pops up from nowhere and becomes a part of everyone's life. Especially Meta Knight's XD! I'll try to put him in this more, I really will.

8

Nikki and the darkness

"Who are you? How do you know Marx? Where did you come from? Why are you here? What are you doing in front of my house?"

Nikki laughed cruelly. "Is this your girlfriend? Who in their right mind would like you?"

Marx looked at me. "I knew her since I was a kid. She used to tease me continuously."

"Oh," I exhaled. I was secretly glad she wasn't his ex-girlfriend, "Why are you here then? I don't get it."

She smiled. "Can we get inside your house? It's really cold."

I nodded and opened the front door. We went inside and took off our scarves and such. Marx and Nikki sat at the table while I went to make some hot chocolate. When I returned they were far from facing each other.

"So, can you begin your story?" I asked, sitting down on the chair next to Marx.

Nikki looked up at me. "Oh yeah! I was in my house one day reading a magazine. There was an article in this magazine on knights and stuff and I was like 'I gotta learn that!' so that's what I did. I ran all the way to the mountains to train in a Chilly community. They were really nice about it and all. They even gave me this thing!" She pointed to the collar around her neck.

"Yeah okay, what's that got to do with us?" Marx asked, his chin resting on the table.

"Well," She continued, "when I returned home, one of my friends told me of this amazing, handsome and mysterious knight living in Dreamland. I was like 'OMG, have to meet him and make him fall in love with me!' so I went back to training to impress him with my skill."

"Again, WHAT THE HELL?" He lifted his head off the table and glared at her, "Why were you training with Chillies anyway?"

Nikki smiled, satisfied with herself for making Marx angry. "You know, you're actually kind of cute when you're mad." She giggled and sent him an air kiss.

"Please keep going," I sighed. She nodded and turned back to me.

"So, I went from training to here in Dreamland. On the way I heard about this jester guy who lost his mind and used Kirby to try and take over the world. I was like, in my mind, 'I know someone who fits that description!' So I looked into it and found out I was right and that he survived his two deaths! It turns out you live in Dreamland with the knight, which was awesome. After this I'm going to meet him!" Nikki clapped and let out a squeal.

"Are you talking about Meta Knight?" I asked, "because he isn't that impressive."

She sighed lovingly. "Ooooh, I can't wait to meet him!" after this sentence was said she squealed again.

"I almost forgot how much I hate you," Marx spat, "I hope you two don't become friends."

I laughed. "No need to worry! You're leaving Dreamland soon anyway, right Nikki?"

Nikki shook her head. "Oh no, I'm going to train with Meta and live here! We could even get married and have little babies! I bet they'd be so CUTE!" She was about to squeal one more time when I interrupted her.

"Okay, it's almost time for supper so you should leave," I took her empty mug and mine into the kitchen (well, there's actually no kitchen. Just one big room and a bathroom.). I heard her follow me.

"Hey! I want to stay here tonight!" She grabbed my arm and pulled me over to her, "Please let me stay, I promise not to be mean to your boyfriend!"

"Don't believe her!" Marx ran over to us, almost tripping over his own feet, "She looks cute but she lies all the time! It's a trick, a TRICK!"

Nikki snickered. "Clumsy as usual. You haven't changed at all from when you were, like, five!" She stepped closer to him and cupped his face in her paws, "Except you don't look quite as awkward as you did then. In fact, you're attractive."

"Dee, please save me. I might be tempted to kill her." Marx glared at Nikki with such anger I thought that she would end up being the one needing to be saved.

"Omigosh!" She pulled away from Marx and darted for the front door. After she left I let out a tired sigh.

Marx scowled. "People call me evil but she, yes that sweet little girl, SHE IS EVIL!" he growled and walked over to the bed, "I'm sleeping in here tonight and there's NOTHING you can do about it!"

"What? Don't take your anger out on me!" I wrapped my arms around him in a tight hug, "I'm sorry if you don't like her, but I'm sure we won't run in to her much."

He smiled and nuzzled me. "Okay. I'm sorry for losing my temper. You're right, she probably won't want to see us much."

The next day I worked hard because there were about a zillion customers. I couldn't figure out why it was so busy at first, then I realized that after Dedede disappeared his workers didn't have anything to do.

"You're screwed," I ran past Marx, who was sitting at the counter, "Are you on break soon?"

"Eh? Oh, in fifteen minutes! Wait for me!" I darted away and served people for my remaining time. When my break approached I sat next to Marx, exhausted.

"What do you think happened to Nikki?" He asked, sipping some kind of green liquid. To tell the truth I didn't want to know what it was.

I shook my head. "I don't know. What about Simirror? I haven't seen her in a long time. Do you think she—"

"No," Marx interrupted, "She couldn't have disappeared."

"I—" before I could say anything the doors burst open and Nikki made her entrance, "Oh, look who's here."

"You guys!" She walked over to us, "Where does Meta Knight live?"

"Is that really all you care about?" Marx smirked, "He lives in the castle, of course."

Nikki patted his head. "Thanks sweetie! I'll be off then! See you another time, after I'm Meta's beloved!" She skipped off with everyone in the restaurant staring at her.

"Is she out of her mind?" I asked Marx, who was blushing for some reason.

"She thinks it's endearing," He growled, "I can't believe she called me sweetie. Ass. I hate her."

I studied his angry face. "What does it mean?"

His cheeks grew redder and I realized he wasn't blushing. He was angry. "In third grade the teacher called me that and from then on it was my nickname. It wasn't one of those names you want either, they used it when they made fun of me."

"I'm sorry…" I felt my eyes well up with tears, "I'm so s-sorry. That isn't fair!" I burst into tears and Marx nudged me.

"I don't want you to cry," He grumbled, his face close to mine, "Please stop. Your tears are hurting me too."

I heard a fist slam. Marx and I both turned to Kawasaki who was standing behind the counter. "Hey you two! I'm going to close in a while so you're off for the day, Dee."

"What? But all these customers are here! You can make a fortune!" I gestured at the crowd of people eating.

"Yeah, but it's exhausting our staff so I'm closing."

I was about to argue when Marx interrupted. "Okay Dee, let's just go home and get supper going. Alright, see ya Kawasaki!" He began to shove me outside which barely gave me a chance to pick up my purse.

"Marx, can you stop pushing me," I stepped away from him, "Um, I've been meaning to talk to you privately."

"Oh, is this going to be embarrassing?" He asked, chuckling, "Or is it important?"

"It's important. What do you think is going on here? Please answer seriously."

He began to walk and I followed him. "In Dreamland now?" I nodded, "Okay, I think something messed up is happening. I can't tell you what it is, if you're wondering. I have nothing to do this. Why am I saying that? It's written all over your face. You blame me." He stopped to scowl at me.

"I don't blame you! What gave you that idea?" I stepped back and yelled at him, "Stop trying to pick a fight with me!"

Marx's face softened. "I'm not. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so goddamn SORRY!" He looked down at his shoes and began to shake, probably crying.

"It's okay," I sighed, "You shouldn't be so defensive. You'll just end up hurting yourself." I wrapped him in an embrace and he slowly stopped sobbing.

"I know," he pulled away from me, "I can't help it. I wanna stop. Really."

I shook my head. "Again, you're only like it with me…" I said this more to myself than I did to Marx.

"I know. It's who I really am and I can reveal that to you because you love me." After saying this he snuggled into me affectionately as we walked.

"Okay." I dug around in my purse for the house key once we reached the end of our route. I opened the front door and walked in.

"What did you say okay to?" Marx asked, sitting down at the table.

I waved my paw at him. "Oh, nothing! I'll make us some meat loaf."

After supper we went to sleep as usual. Marx got the bed that night, which probably doesn't matter to you. I slept soundly on the floor with sweet dreams of adorable little creatures like Scarfies and Minnies.

The next morning we both woke up late. This couldn't matter less to Marx. Then again, he didn't have a job to keep anymore. So he sat there on the bed, watching me intently like a little kid watching their mother. It was actually quite cute.

"Okay," I gasped after hurrying all over the house to get ready, "I'll get going to work now!"

He got up and kissed my cheek. "I'm going out later too, so I'll meet you when you're done for the day."

I nodded. "Yes, love you!" I grabbed my purse and threw open the front door. As soon as I did I wanted to scream. The sky was a giant dark void with black clouds coming out of the center. When I examined the clouds closely I noticed that they each had a giant eye in the middle. Dark Matter. I turned around slowly to look at Marx. "Ummm, you should come see this."

Marx got up and stood next to me. As soon as he saw the creatures the blood drained from his face. "Well, that isn't something you see every day."

Author's note: Well, there you have it. The Dark Matter, by the way, isn't being controlled by Zero (Or Zero two). No. It's someone much more sinister…You'll find out soon enough (It isn't Nightmare, BTW).

Until then, I don't know what to tell you. The next chapter will be more interesting. I promise! ;)