Author's note: Obviously, Dee didn't die. Any questions you have about that are answered here. This'll probably be the last time Marx breaks down and cries, too. He'll be a stronger character from now on. ^^

I found a video on Youtube. The link is on my profile (in the list). It's called Buri Hamachi! SO KAWAII!

Okay, please review! ^^

15

Zerotsuu

I woke up with a sharp pain on my head. My vision was blurred and it took some time to adjust to the lighting. As soon as I did, I saw a bunch of colourful blurs surrounding me. I reached up and poked one in the face.

"Hey!" I realized the person I poked was Nikki. She rubbed her left eye and I laughed.

"Sorry about that, I didn't mean to poke you!" I looked around at everyone above me. They were all girls.

Ribbon handed me a pill and a glass of water. "Here, for the pain." I reluctantly took the medicine and she smiled lovingly.

"So what happened? Is Marx alright?" I had many more questions, but these seemed to be the most important.

"Look next to you," Simirror gestured to my side. I glanced at Marx who was sleeping soundly next to me. He looked worse than I felt with the number of bruises and cuts that were all over his face. He was wearing a bandage on his head too, like me.

"After the Dark Matter attacked you he shoved you out of the way and took the rest of the attacks. So he got beaten up the most," Fumu was at my side so I turned to her, "He actually woke up yesterday and he's been slipping in and out of consciousness since then."

"He insisted on being here with you. Isn't that adorable? I'm so jealous!" Nikki giggled, "I wanna be you."

I looked back at Marx. "Do you think you could all leave? I want to talk to him privately when he wakes up."

They all nodded and left noisily. Marx didn't stir at all so I nudged him. He still didn't do anything. I sighed and shook him violently. His eyes flew open before he bit my paw.

"Ow!" I shoved him backwards and he squealed. The teeth marks were barely visible and would probably fade away in a few days.

"Are you okay?" Marx was shivering for some reason. I patted him on the head and tried to look happy.

"I'm fine," I laid back down and grabbed the ends of his hat, pulling him next to me, "you should be more worried about yourself."

He sat up and stared at me without a word. It was beginning to freak me out, so I closed my eyes. "Please look at me." he whispered.

I forced my eyes open again. "Is something wrong?"

Marx's mouth twitched as if he was going to talk. We were both silent for a while before he collapsed onto his side and started to sob. I wasn't really sure what to do, so I ended up doing nothing. He gradually stopped and looked at me.

"Please don't cry," I whispered, wrapping him in my arms, "you haven't done anything wrong. Actually, someone said you saved my life," I let go and looked him in the eyes, "I'm so proud of you for that."

"I can't," he choked, "I can't let you thank me. I was the reason you were going to be murdered! I was being weak and selfish and you saved me! I want to be strong like you, I don't want to be scared all the time, I don't want to hurt anymore! I'm trying, see, I'm trying! I'll try harder, I'll do my best to become the person everyone wants me to be! I'll—"

"Shush!" I slapped my paw over his mouth and sighed heavily, "I know that you're trying. You don't need to tell me that. I already told you I'll love you no matter how you are, okay?"

I removed my paw so that he could speak. "I don't want to hurt you any more. You'll just end up hating me like everyone else...because it's fate."

"No," I took him in my arms and cradled him to the best of my abilities, "I could never hate you. I know you better than anyone else and it's almost like you are me. We're counterparts now and I don't think I could live without you!"

Marx nodded before slipping into unconsciousness. I hugged him tighter, never wanting to let go. It hurt me too, when he fell apart like this. I always helped to the best of my abilities but I don't think there was any way to heal him fully. Deep down, there was something hurting him and I would never know what it is. I guess he would have to deal with it himself one day.

I laid back down again and closed my eyes. I should've asked how much time passed, I realized that now. So I got up again and searched the room for a calendar. I found a little notebook with one in it. The date marked in it was two days after we battled Drawcia, which means I wasn't unconscious for very long.

I put the notebook down and got back in bed. I desperately wished this would end. It was taking too long and I just wanted to get back to working at Kawasaki's restaurant. I wanted to feed people and make them happy, which in turn made me happy. It was so easy and calming. Speaking of Kawasaki though, I still didn't know where he was. I hoped he was safe and sound.

"Is it a burden yet?"

"What?" my gaze directed at Marx. When I looked closer I saw that he was still fast asleep. Maybe he was only half awake when he spoke and dozed off again. I sighed and rolled over.

"I asked you a question, aren't you going to answer?"

I sat up and yelled out, "Who's there?" I got no answer, just Marx's light snoring. I shoved him gently which caused him to stir. His eyes gradually opened and he stared at me.

"Is something wrong?" he murmured, "You should be sleeping too. Are you okay?"

I shook my head. "It's nothing. I just wanted to make sure you're okay. Go back to sleep." I laid back and closed my eyes for hopefully one last time. I didn't feel tired for some reason. It was probably because I'd been sleeping for the last two days anyway. More than anything I was hungry.

"Am I a burden to you yet, Dee?"

Marx was looking at me with watery eyes. I stared back at him in awe. I hope it didn't show too much. "No. Why would you be?"

He smiled. "Oh, that makes me feel better. Thank you," his eyes shut and he gave me a pleasant expression. I wasn't sure what to think. The voice I heard earlier, could it be Marx's thoughts in his sleep? I decided not to ever mention it to him. Why would he think something like that in the first place, anyway?

"Okay, so what do we do now?" Kirby asked the next day at breakfast. We were in the throne room as usual. It surprised me that Drawcia didn't actually invade our hide-out yet. She must've been planning something else.

"What was Marx's second plan? I forgot," Nikki questioned me. I knew the answer, but I wanted Marx to tell her. He was the one who came up with it after all.

As if summoned, Marx came in at that very moment and sat next to me. "I told you if this first plan fails we'd summon Zero. I can't believe you all forgot."

There was a loud gasp which went around the room. "When you said that the first time it wasn't that scary because I thought we wouldn't have to do it! But now we really have to…" Ribbon shivered. I didn't blame her for being scared since Zero invaded her planet a couple of years ago. That was how we all met her.

"Zero isn't that bad," Marx smiled weakly, "just misunderstood. He wanted love and friends, nothing else. If we fulfill that I'm sure things will go well." there was something genuine in his voice as he said this. It was almost reassuring.

"This could work," Meta Knight agreed, "you do realise we would be using Zero though, don't you?"

Marx was about to fight back but I spoke before he could. "If he gains a friend or two, it's alright. Everyone's getting what they want, right?" I didn't want him to embarrass himself by getting angry in front of everyone.

"Yes, I suppose," I couldn't tell what Meta Knight was thinking. Not that it really mattered what he thought about this.

"Right, then that's what we're doing today," Marx yelled, "We're going to the forest and summoning Zero! WOOH!" once again no one cheered so he continued, "It's the place I got Fumu and Simirror to guard. We should hurry."

We all murmured in agreement and ate the rest of our food.

The trail through the woods was a boring one. As usual, the scenery only consisted of trees and bushes, some more trees, a few flowers and more trees and a couple more bushes. Since no one talked to each other for half of the way it was pretty much as lame as walks could be. As I said, that was only for half of the way. The awkwardness was obviously too much for Nikki and she had to speak.

"So what are we gonna do if Zero turns on us?" her voice sounded desperate. Maybe it wasn't for the topic, but she just needed a conversation.

"Then we'll kill him, there's no big mystery around it," Marx grumbled next to me. He let out a sigh, "I'm sure he won't. He isn't as bad as we think, I already told you that!"

"Well, you don't have to get mad about it," Kirby laughed, "Where exactly are we going anyway?"

An idea popped into my head and I just had to say it. "We're going to where I found you, aren't we?"

Marx smiled, though it appeared slightly forced. "Yeah. I think that's where the two dimensions of life and death connect. That sounds kind of weird without suspenseful music in the background, doesn't it?"

"No, it's fine," I patted his head which made him scowl at me.

"Please stop doing that, it makes me feel small."

I laughed. "I'm sorry. You just have such a cute and irresistible face. I want to hug you and pat your head all day long!"

That crazy sentence just earned me a blank stare. "I'll pretend you didn't say that."

"Hey! It's the truth!" I punched his side and he giggled, "It doesn't embarrass me at all, either."

"Well, it embarrasses me, so I'll keep it a secret," Marx smiled warmly. I gave him a similar expression before noticing we were falling behind. I grabbed him by his hat and dragged him along until we caught up with the others.

Once we did everyone turned to us (which was just plain unnerving). "Are we at our destination yet, Marx?" Meta Knight asked, always the first to talk.

"Almost," Marx answered in a serious tone, "it's just a bit longer. Y'know, I can't remember it being this far!"

"That's because the first time I carried you the whole way. And the second time we only walked past the area and didn't try to pinpoint it," I laughed and he did the same. Not because it was funny, but for some reason I can't explain.

"Here!" Marx shouted, making me jump.

I looked around, trying to remember what the place looked like. "Is this it?"

"Yeah, that bush there! I remembered it," he walked closer to it and examined it, "The leaves have reddish tips and they're kind of fluffy looking. And deep inside it has these berries that have a blue tint on the bottom and—"

"Okay, then I guess this is the bush," I chuckled nervously, "so what now?"

There was a silence from Marx, so Simirror spoke. "Is there a spell or something?"

"People who knew Zero in any way, I need you to come here," he stood in front of everyone as they looked at each other. The people who came to stand next to him were Kirby, Ribbon and Meta Knight, "Okay, since Dedede is guarding the castle, we'll have to start without him."

"Wait!" Kirby yelled, "How does Meta Knight know Zero?"

This one statement made us all turn to Meta Knight. He seemed unfazed by this. "I would like to recite the story for you now, but there is no time. Can you please tell us what to do, Marx?"

Marx nodded. "Okay, get in a circle and hold each others' hands. For Ribbon and Kirby, 'cuz you're next to me, you can hold my hat or something."

"Then what?" Ribbon asked after grabbing Marx's hat and Meta Knight's hand.

"Think of Zero in your head and just concentrate on that image," he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "I hope this works."

Nothing happened at first. Then after a while orbs of light floated around us. It wasn't very many until they began to build up and fill the air. I could barely even see. The next thing that happened was the circle Marx, Kirby, Ribbon and Meta Knight formed started to glow with darkness. A void opened beneath them and waves of darkness rushed out at an amazing speed. I couldn't label the waves; they didn't really resemble anything I'd ever seen.

The small group ran away from the void and separated but it didn't disappear. I shut my eyes in fear as I felt an object force itself in my arms. I saw it was just Marx when I opened my eyes again. I looked around at everyone else. The people who were summoning Zero were all unconscious.

The force of the waves grew, pushing me onto the ground with ease like a bowling pin. I must've stayed like that for ten minutes, still holding Marx, before the waves weakened. When they did I stood up and looked down at my feet. I was standing in a shallow pool of blood.

"HEY!" I wasn't sure who that was, but they made me look at the void, which was now a hole in the bloody earth. A few orbs escaped before a creature whose body was soaking with blood emerged. Under normal circumstances I would be choking with disgust, but it was so…beautiful. He was Zero. Or rather, he was Zero Two. I'd never seen something so hauntingly gorgeous in my whole life. There were no words to describe it.

"Marx!" I shook his body a few times before he woke. He blinked and licked his lips.

"Ew, blood. Wait," he hopped away from my arms and grinned at Zero Two, "Holy freaking cherry donuts! It's really Zero!"

Zero looked down at us with his single red eye. The blood on his body was gone and now he seemed almost holy. "You…freed me."

"Hell yeah!" Marx shouted, "One good turn for another, right? We are friends, after all."

"Friends," Zero took time to study each of us, "I understand. How is Drawcia? Have you seen her yet?"

"Zero, Drawcia is using your Dark Matter for evil! She stole them and now she's making them do selfish stuff for her!" I yelled. My voice sounded desperate.

Zero's eye closed and began to leak blood. He flew a bit higher and towards the great temple where Drawcia lived. How he knew what to do, I didn't really know.

"Okaaay, now we just hope he deals with the rest and go home," Marx started to walk away and I gestured for everyone else to follow. I couldn't help but feel helpless. We needed to throw all our trust into a creature we nevertrust before this.

So we returned to the castle and cleaned ourselves off to relax. Well, we tried to relax. We all secretly worried about what would happen and how Zero would deal with things. As Marx and I got ready for bed I was tired of holding the thought in my head.

"Do you think Zero will be alright? What if Drawcia gets to him? Or what if she hurts him?"

Marx jumped onto the bed and smiled at me. "I'm sure he'll be okay. There's nothing to worry about. Really." It felt like he was reassuring himself more than he was me. I sighed and laid down next to him.

"If you say so, then I believe you," I closed my eyes and began to drift off to sleep.

"Thank you."

I looked at Marx, puzzled. "What for? Believing you?"

"I don't know, I just feel like I should thank you," he shut his eyes and fell asleep. I didn't know what else to say, so I followed him.

Author's note: Holy cherry donuts! LOL!

Okay, besides that, I hope you watched the Buri Hamachi video! They're all so cute! Ahhhh, they make you so happy it's unhealthy! XD

Now, to the story, Zero's part was short in this chapter. Oooh, I didn't realize I was a fan until I wrote this! Oh, and I'm sorry to those who think Zero is female.

Alright people, may ye be Meta fans, Marx fans, Kirby fans, the rare Dedede fans or etc., ye must review! ^^

P.S. Chapter name because of Zero Two's Japanese name.