King Dedede had never been more excited in his life. I'm sure there were times when he was super excited, but never this excited. Finally, it seemed his efforts were going to pay off. And after having done a lot of selfish deeds in the past, he cherished the thought of being hailed as a hero.
While he and the elderly figure that promised to take him to this wise wolf we're walking, Dedede asked him a question.
"My good man, what might be your name?"
And the figure gave him an answer that would shock him.
"Pac-Man. Me name be Pac-Man."
Dedede gasped. He had heard tales of Pac-Man, the yellow ball who ate pellets and ghosts for a living. But he never knew what he looked like. He never knew that he was a round yellow ball. He had always though ol' Packy was a muscular knight in shining armor. Oh boy, was Dedede wrong. Well, then again, Dedede is wrong a lot of the time.
"Pac-Man? THE Pac-Man? The one who chomps ghosts for a living?" asked the king.
"Yep, that be eat. I may not be as nimble as I once was many years ago, but I still can pack a punch!" he yellow ball answered.
Although Pac-Man was still the same yellow ball that everyone remembers, having been on this planet for so long meant his appearance was changing. He had a rather bushy beard, a bit grayish, and a pencil mustache that was a thick golden brown. He wasn't about to perish anytime soon however, as chasing ghosts all his life meant he was always in shape.
About an hour later, Dedede and Pac-Man arrived at the retirement home where the wise wolf was residing. This was a retirement home for the aged and fragile known as the "Dreamland Resthome". It was actually quite nice. The outer walls were a nice, golden-brownish color. It looked like it was made for people with wealth.
The king and the yellow ball made their entry into the resthome, and as they were walking to the elevator, they passed by the retirement home's kitchen. Inside, a young boy was washing dishes.
The name of this young lad was Toon Link. He was the young version of one of the fighters lost in Subspace. But wait, how can a young version of someone co-exist with them in the same time period? Well, Toon Link was a young boy looking for adventure, and so he did...when he stumbled into a secret laboratory and discovered a time machine. It thrust him many years into the future; 20 years, as a matter of fact. The time machine had landed in an area of Hyrule bordering Dreamland, and was quickly confiscated upon being found by authorities because in this present time, Hyrule had passed a law prohibiting all time machines, out of fear of the consequences and dangers of altering the past. The time machine was locked away in a top secret underground government lab; Toon Link made the daring attempt to retrieve it, but was caught before he could lay his hands on the machine, and had to flee. Now on Hyrule's "Most Wanted" list, he had to take refugee in Dreamland, and go under the name of Clethoris. He had applied for the job as a dishwasher at the Dreamland Resthome...and while it wasn't exactly what he would consider "fun", it put cash in his pockets. But, for the longest time now, he had always desired adventure. And little did he realize, the opportunity to go on an adventure would present itself.
The young boy saw the king and Pac-Man, but the two didn't notice him. Toon Link sighed. "Why am I still hopelessly stuck as the dishboy at this retirement home? Don't worry; soon enough, adventure will come. I hope."
Dedede and Pac-Man made their way to the top floor of the building, and made it to Room 309, where the wise wolf was residing. Pac-Man knocked on the door, and it soon opened.
"Who might this be?" said the wolf. "Ah, Pac-Man! My good old buddy! And I see you brought a friend!"
"Uh, he's not exactly a friend...more of a recent acquaintance...we just met recently." said Pac-Man.
"Well, do come in, young ones!" Wolf said.
"I'm not exactly young." said Pac-Man, who rolled his eyes.
Dedede and Pac-Man took a seat on the couch. It was a pretty comfy couch, although Dedede wasn't about to admit that this couch was comfier than the ones at his castle.
"The name's Wolf O'Donnell. So young ones, what brings you here?"
Pac-Man looked at Dedede. "Well, you can go ahead and tell him." the former said.
"Um, alright." said the penguin king. "I want to know how you can re-enter the Subspace."
Wolf looked visibly shocked.
"Woah there, youngster! You want to re-enter the SUBSPACE?"
"Yes, that's what I said." said Dedede. "This yellow ball told me you knew how to re-enter that dimension."
"My fair laddy, I do!" said Wolf, still somewhat shocked. "But I've heard of no one who has willingly WANTED to venture into the Subspace. It's a horrible place ruled by an evil, evil man. His name is..."
"...Tabuu." King Dedede finished.
"You KNOW about Tabuu?" Wolf questioned in surprise, raising an eyebrow in suspicion as well.
"Yes, me and a large group of fighters got dragged into Subspace, and we managed to defeat him." said Dedede.
"Woah woah woah! You actually DEFEATED him? Where was I when this happened?" Wolf said with surprise.
"In this retirement home, probably..." Pac-Man said with a small bit of sarcasm.
"Ok, but I still don't get it...why would you want to go back into the Subspace?"
"Well..." King Dedede started. "You see, this group of fighters I was with. Most got turned into trophies before Tabuu was defeated. I was among only 6 out of 35 or so fighters who made it out untrophified. The trophified fighters...got blown away into unexplored Subspace territory. I want to rescue them, and I've tried to research ways to enter this dimension, but I was unable to figure out a way...then I met this yellow ball who told me about you."
"Hmm, I see." said Wolf quietly.
"Do you know much about Subspace?" asked Dedede.
"Oh yes! Quite a lot actually! In my time at university, I studied much about the Subspace, especially during the invasion of 1947! My studies mainly focused upon how Subspace was run and its army that tried to take over our world. Did you mention these fighters got blown away into unexplored territory?"
"Yes, yes I did." said Dedede, quit fast actually. "I don't suppose you know anything about this unexplored territory?"
"Not much...I was sucked into Subspace during the invasion of 1947, and was able to explore much of it, except for the territory beyond the edges notorious for its powerful winds that threaten to blow off anyone unlucky enough to be trophified and close to the edge. Untrophified people could withstand these powerful winds, surprisingly. But from overhearing various conversations from the Subspace army, I've heard rumors. Fascinating rumors."
"Rumors?" both Dedede and Pac-Man asked.
"Yes, rumors. Apparently, a beautiful paradise lies beyond the edges of Subspace. Only trophified fighters are allowed to reside in there. Legend has it that a trophified victim of Tabuu's great attack of 1947 was blown off this edge. An army member ventured into this realm, and saw the trophified fighter, turned into an untrophified, supernatural creature of many powers and great, holy harmony. Lakes and fruit trees were plentiful, there was no sorrow or illness, and it was a place of eternal happiness. It is believed only those who were blown in trophified are allowed to reside in this world, because the army member never returned...but his fellow members recalled hearing a faint scream of death from beyond the edge...they say it is unexplored because the army member didn't make it far."
Dedede just gave a blank stare at Wolf, then broke out in laughter.
"HA! A place of eternal bliss and happiness beyond a dimension of horribleness! I'll believe it when I see it, which I'm probably not. Chances are the trophified fighters are just residing in a blank void of nothingness. If there actually is a place of eternal happiness, we might as well have already discovered a cure for every disease known to man and most of us never knew about it!"
"Aye, but it's just rumors...I don't know for sure...but what I do know is that whoever goes in there, is in somewhere that no living creature can recall what it looks like..." Wolf said faintly.
"Well, Subspace ain't just gonna open itself! So how exactly DO we re-enter the Subspace?" asked the king of Dreamland.
Wolf slowly turned his head towards the king and Pac-Man.
"Follow me. It's going to be a long journey, so pack whatever you think will be necessary."
And so, Dedede, Pac-Man, and Wolf exited the retirement home and began the journey to venture into Subspace. Thinking that they would be going on an adventure (and he was right), Toon Link decided to secretly follow pursuit.
Meanwhile, Dedede was still laughing about the idea of a place of eternal bliss and happiness that lies beyond a dimension full of terribleness.
...but what if it was real? Dedede wouldn't know how to react. But for know, that question was a mystery.
END OF CHAPTER
The next chapter will be coming soon!