It's now the next day.

Taranza did manage to get some sleep, but it was considerably less sleep than usual. Learning about Dark Meta Knight's involvement in Sectonia's corruption absolutely made it difficult for him to sleep well. He had to wake Susie up a couple of times to talk to her… which did help, but overall, it hasn't been too easy of a night for him.

As Taranza, Susie and Magolor wake up in the morning, they have breakfast over at the Floralian island of Fine Fields to give themselves energy to be ready for the meeting this afternoon. Taranza, of course, has been given comfort by the other two, as they help him get ready.

When they go back to Royal Road's castle, they spend several more hours there just to relax. Magolor and Susie have continued trying to help Taranza be at some sort of ease, after his outburst of rage from last night.

It is now early afternoon.

"Well, the time of the meeting is getting really close. We've only got just over an hour to get there now!" said Magolor, as he places his hand on Taranza's shoulder. "Like I said, I know where the place is! I'll guide us there! We can still easily get there on time."

The place of the meeting is not far away from where they're at. Floralia is just above Dream Land, as the building where the meeting takes place at is nearby King Dedede's castle. The three can easily move quickly enough to get there.

"I hope you're ready, Taranza." said Susie, as she places her hand on his other shoulder. "I know it's going to be very rough for you to hold on to it for a while, but we believe you can do it! We'll be right by you the whole time!"

"It wouldn't be wise to be late, I get it. I believe I'm ready now!" said Taranza. His feelings right now are still very much at unease, but he's trying his absolute best to stay calm right now. At least his two friends being right here with him does help somewhat. "But before we go, one more thing I want to say: I'm sorry if I freaked the both of you out with my tantrum last night. I know that may have been hard to watch, but I was just so damn mad to process it at first! I really was. Obviously, I don't want to destroy my own home. But GOOD NOVA was I just so pissed!" His tone became a little bit more intense at the last few sentences.

"You don't need to be sorry! It's okay! We completely understand!" replied Susie, as she then pats him on the back to try to ease him down a bit. "We knew that you were going to be really upset about it. That's why we've been staying here with you since."

"Hey, if someone played a hand in ruining my life and I were to find out about it years later, I'd be incredibly pissed as well!" said Magolor, providing just a bit more comfort. "Believe me when I say I get it! Anyways, I think we should get going now!"

"Yes! I just wanted to throw that out there to you guys before we get going." said Taranza, as his tone goes back to being calm. "I'm ready to go now. Let's not waste anymore time and go!"

The three then leave Royal Road, and start heading to the destination together. Susie took her business suit with her as they left.

Magolor took the lead in getting to where they need to be, as he knows where it is.

The plan is for Magolor and Susie to help keep Taranza calm during the conference until it's over, then they'll enable him to confront Dark Meta Knight for ruining his life. They're confident in that this plan can work.

Taranza's heart raced as they get there, since he knows that this is going to be a tough time. He's in full acknowledgement that he's going to see Dark Meta Knight, and simply seeing the guy is all it will take to get him frenzied. But he doesn't want to ruin it for Hyness and the Mage Sisters, who are excited to announce their plans to the rest of the star allies. This sucks for him! Let's see if he can get through it! It might be easier said than done, though...

It takes Taranza, Magolor and Susie about half an hour to get to the destination. As they land, Susie hops out of her business suit and flips open her helmet's visor to make her face visible. She leaves her business suit standing on the grass, as the three of them then take a short moment to look at the building right in front of them.

This building is made of the same overall material as King Dedede's castle, but it's shaped less like a castle and more like a courthouse. It's smaller in size, too. The entire purpose of the building is to hold important conferences. It has an actual door to make these meetings private, as disturbance isn't tolerated. There are no windows, either, to further ensure meetings to be confidential.

King Dedede doesn't show up in every meeting that takes place here, but he'll often serve as an administrator in the ones he does show up in. He certainly always shows up in the ones that call for all the star allies to attend, like the event now.

The door is open. Voices can be heard from inside the building, implying that other star allies have already showed up before Taranza, Magolor and Susie did.

The three gave each other glances before finally starting to enter. As they stood together, Taranza is in the middle, with Magolor at his left side and Susie at his right side. They intentionally put himself between them to pat him on the back any time they feel like he could use it, as he'll more than likely need it.

"I know what you're thinking, Taranza, but we're gonna try our best to make sure you chill until it's over! Don't make eye contact with him and don't disclose it to anyone else!" said Magolor, patting Taranza on the back again. "But no worries, as we're right by your side."

Taranza nodded his head yes. He's feeling really tense right now, to the point he doesn't really feel like talking. His gut feels heavy. He's anxious of encountering one particular star ally sooner than he anticipates.

Susie patted him on the back as well. "We'll make sure you get the chance to give that terrible excuse of a knight a piece of your mind, after the meeting is done. We promise you that!" she said. "Anyhow, let's go inside now."

Magolor and Susie continue to pat Taranza on the back to keep comforting him as the three start walking to the building.

But before they can get inside, Kirby pops up right at the door. Upon seeing the three, he waves at them. They wave back.

Phew, at least seeing Kirby for now was a bit helpful for Taranza. It was helpful for all three of them, really. The little pink guy always sparks joy.

"Hiiiiii!" greeted Kirby, ever so cheerfully.

"Kirby! It's always great to see you, buddy!" greeted Magolor, slowly clapping his hands. He always gets rather excited to see his good pink friend.

"Hi, little pinky!" said Susie, with her eyes happily squinting. Even though she does usually refer to Kirby by his real name nowadays, there are occasions where she can't help but still endearingly use her nickname for him.

Taranza did not say hi back, but he did at least put up a smile while waving back. The sight of Kirby does at least make him happy just a little bit. He tries not to show his dreaded feelings to the little guy.

"You finally made it!" said Kirby. "I was getting worried. Everyone else is already here! We've all been waiting for you guys to come!"

"Hahaha, yeah... sorry about that." replied Magolor.

Kirby then decides to hug the three of them. He hugs Magolor, then he hugs Susie, and then finishes off by hugging Taranza. Of course, Kirby always loves to give hugs.

But while hugging Taranza, Kirby notices his silence and seemingly lack of positive energy compared to the other two. It... makes him curious. It makes him a little bit worried.

"Taranza...?" asked Kirby, looking worried. "... did something happen?"

Is it worth letting Kirby know even a small bit of what was revealed just yet?

Is it even remotely worth it?

Ummm... no. No. NO! Absolutely not! It'd most likely freak Kirby out to tell him even a tiny bit of it. The sweet little guy doesn't deserve to be burdened like that before the meeting even starts! At least let the meeting be done with first!

"No! Of course not!" said Taranza, as he chooses to not disclose his true feelings. "I'm fine! I'm perfectly fine! Everything is going well. I was just really lost in thought. But thank you for your concern, Kirby. I appreciate it." He puts up a smile again.

But truthfully, deep down inside, he's not fine... at all. He just doesn't want to already burden poor Kirby about what he really thinks. He'd feel bad to do that so soon. He thinks Kirby would be sad throughout the meeting if he were to tell him right now. It'd be best to not risk it just yet.

"He's okay! We had to run a few errands this morning, and it just made him a bit annoyed. That's all." Susie said to Kirby, as both she and Magolor understand that Taranza is hiding his feelings.

Thankfully, it helps in this case that Kirby usually takes things at face value. "Okay! Let's get you guys in now!" he said.

Taranza gulps as Magolor, Susie and Kirby help walk him inside. He's getting closer and closer to encountering that crooked being that calls himself a knight. It's making his heart race. He's trying his best not to randomly freak out.

As they walk inside, Kirby rushes to further into the room. Taranza, Magolor and Susie are then greeted by an unmistakable voice.

"HEY! Ya three rascals finally done made it!" greeted King Dedede, as he is right by the front stand. "We've all been waiting for ya! Glad to see that everybody's here, now!"

Taranza, Magolor and Susie slowly look around the room, as the inside of this place looks similar to the inside of Dedede's castle. While the three are looking around, they're greeted by some of the other star allies.

"Bonjam! We give you three our jamankes for finally showing up to our event!" greeted Hyness, who is revealed to be showing his face by having his hood down.

"Bonjam!" greeted Flamberge. "We're really jhappy to see you guys finally make it!"

Zan Partizanne and Francisca also greet. "Bonjam." said both.

"G'day, mates!" greeted Rick.

"Good afternoon, guys!" greeted Adeleine.

"How's it going, guys?" greeted Kine.

"What's up, fellas?" greeted Daroach.

"Hey, hey, hey!" greeted Marx. "Mags! I was wondering where you were, man!"

Magolor managed to catch sight of the jester. "Hi, Marx! Hahaha, yeah, sorry that we were slow to make it here!" he said.

Taranza's body felt tense while being greeted by many of the other star allies, but at least he hasn't heard Dark Meta Knight's voice... yet, anyway. So he's able to relax momentarily.

As Taranza, Magolor and Susie continue slowly looking around the room, they see that there are five tables. Four of them are surrounding the front half of the room, as the last one is at the far back.

Hyness, Zan Partizanne, Flamberge and Francisca are sitting at the far back table, as there is also a microphone for them since they'll be the ones speaking. King Dedede is also standing close to them right now, seemingly to show that he's in charge of the meeting.

As far as the four tables surrounding the front half of the room are concerned... the far left table is occupied by Kirby, Bandana Dee and Meta Knight. There's also an empty seat at that table, but it appears to be reserved for Dedede.

The next table, just right of the far left table, appears to have five seats. The star allies sitting at this table are Gooey, Rick, Kine, Coo and Marx.

There are four seats in the third table, the one just left of the far right table. All seats appear to be occupied, as the ones sitting here are Adeleine, Ribbon, Daroach and...

…. Oh no. OH NO. Dark Meta Knight is sitting at that table, too.

As Taranza continues looking around, he unfortunately ends up catching sight of Dark Meta Knight. He begins to freak out like he's about to have a heart attack, but Magolor and Susie are quick enough to stop him before he goes too far. Magolor uses his hand to cover Taranza's mouth, as both he and Susie quickly turn the spider around to stop facing the mirror world knight.

Luckily, it seemed to barely catch Dark Meta Knight's attention since he wasn't really looking back, but some of the other star allies caught it and become confused upon seeing Taranza's small freak-out.

"Woah, what was that?" asked King Dedede. "Is Taranza okay there?"

"He's fine, guys!" said Magolor, nervously chuckling as he tries to quickly assure everyone. "He was just about to have a sneeze! Everything's fine! Totally fine! Heheheh..."

"Oh, that's what it was? Just a sneeze?" asked Coo.

"Correct! But he's okay now." replied Susie, as she pats Taranza on the back. He calmed down from his freak out.

"No worries, we get it." said Francisca. "Sneezes happen." Some of the other star allies still seemed a bit baffled, however.

Susie notices the far right table, which has three seats, and none of them are being occupied. "Is that where the three of us are supposed to sit at?" she asks, while pointing at that table.

"To answer that question, jes!" replied Zan Partizanne. "We've assigned the tables, and that's indeed where the three of you are assigned. It's best that I get you seated over there now."

The electric mage then gets up and zips across the room. She escorts Susie, Taranza and Magolor to the far right table and gets them seated. After getting them seated, she then zips back to the table with her family.

It's nerve-wracking that the table that Taranza is assigned to is adjacent to the table that Dark Meta Knight is assigned to. Thankfully, however, the spider's seat is at the middle of his table. Magolor sits at the seat that's closest to Dark Meta Knight's table, so he can keep Taranza's attention away from wretched swordsman. Both Magolor and Susie prevent Taranza from looking too much into Magolor's direction.

Thankfully, Taranza can see Hyness and the Mage Sisters without having that horrible knight in his sight at all. That's good. He can at least look at them while they speak.

King Dedede walks across the room. "So, now that we got everybody's bums here, I believe it's a good time to be shuttin' this here door!" he said, as he eventually walks towards the door to close it shut, locking it behind him as he turns around.

"We still got several more minutes until it starts, though!" Dedede continues. "So, feel free to talk amongst yourselves until then!"

The star allies talked amongst themselves within their respective tables.

Kirby, Bandana Dee and Meta Knight talk to each other, as Dedede stood right by them to talk to them as well. Marx says things that make Rick, Kine, Coo and Gooey laugh. Dark Meta Knight and Daroach appear to be whispering to each other, with Adeleine and Ribbon curiously joining in on their conversation.

Magolor, Taranza and Susie talk to each other, although the spider barely says anything. Magolor and Susie prevent Taranza from looking at a certain direction, as they continue trying their best to make sure he gets through this.

Francisca and Flamberge decide to come over to Magolor, Taranza and Susie, asking how they're doing. Both mages notice Taranza's lack of positive energy and are worried. Susie assures them that he's okay, and that he just had a rough morning that he's still trying to get over. Both mages then decide to take Susie's word for it in a cautiously optimistic manner, and go back to their table after hanging out with the three enough.

Everyone appears to be in a good mood... except for Taranza, who most certainly isn't. He's just doing his best to try to behave, because he likes the Mage Sisters enough to where he does want to try to not ruin the event for them.

Right as the meeting is about to begin, King Dedede speaks again.

"Alright, everybody!" he said. "It's about to start! I'm sure that our new friends here from Jambastion are excited to begin on what they wanna talk about! Once I sit down here, that's when I give 'em the greenlight to begin! As always, I'm in charge here! Please behave yourselves, y'all, and if it comes down to it, then I'll be the one to keep the peace!"

It made Taranza sick to his stomach to hear that last part. He's aware that Dedede doesn't know about it yet, but it's got him thinking about how the penguin monarch was also affected by Dark Meta Knight's action of ensuring Sectonia's corruption. Even though Dedede does already frown upon Dark Meta Knight more than any other star ally, Taranza is thinking about how the king should also be driven insane if he were to be informed about it... enough to the point that if he was smart, he should just let the spider beat that guy up.

Nevertheless, Taranza remains calm. With Magolor and Susie right by him to help ensure it, he'll try to behave until the session is done.

As Dedede sits in his seat at the same table that Kirby, Bandana Dee and Meta Knight are in, the meeting begins. Hyness takes the microphone in his hand to begin speaking to the rest of the crowd.

"Bonjam, everybody! Jamanke very much for taking the time to come here to our event!" he said on the microphone. "Once again, we are vun grateful to each and every one of you for going out of your way to save us! As we've finally gotten our home back together, we are jhappy to announce that we will begin taking vacations here at the planet of Popstar! We're also jhappy to begin talking about our history with you, so you'll all get to know more about us! Allow us begin by talking about my past life, and then I'll move it over to my jonderful darlings here!"

Hyness talked about what he's been like throughout his life. He briefly mentioned about how he saved each of the Mage Sisters from the brink of death and granted them their respective magical powers, which he then assured that he'll allow them chances to speak about their individual backstories. But before doing that, he talked about how he founded the religion of Jambastion, as he became their leader. He then made the admission that he ended up allowing himself to succumb to darkness, which of course led to the event that caused the star allies to form together to save the universe. Hyness expressed his guilt and remorse for allowing himself to succumb to darkness, and thanked everyone once again for helping rectify that problem. He expresses that he's now happy to be in a better spot compared to where he was previously.

Eventually, he gave the Mage Sisters their chances to speak. The first one out of the three to speak was Zan Partizanne, as she talked about her past. She went into detail about how she climbed up a tower because she was about to end herself, and that she almost died from a lightning strike, but Hyness came in quick enough to rescue her. Her electricity powers came from Hyness granting them to her. This is what made her become super thankful and loyal to him.

Up next to speak was Flamberge, who talked in detail about how she was trapped in an inferno and nearly died from it, but was luckily rescued by Hyness, who then granted her the powers of fire. She then took the opportunity about what made her become so close with Francisca in particular.

Francisca was the last one out of three to speak. She discussed in detail about how she came close to dying in a blizzard, but thankfully got rescued while still alive, and that Hyness gave her icicle powers. She also ended up disclosing more about her frozen corpse collection to the crowd.

During their speeches, the star allies were given chances to ask questions. The reason why Francisca talked about her frozen corpse collection during her speech is because Bandana Dee asked about it, as he remembered when she talked about it while she was still the enemy.

Taranza, Susie, Magolor and Kirby didn't ask any questions because those four have already visited Hyness and the Mage Sisters while they were getting their home back together enough times to have known about their past beforehand. The other star allies, however, have not seen the Jambastion crew since saving them, and thus they were the ones to ask the questions.

Not like Taranza was even remotely in the mood to ask questions, anyways...

At one moment, Francisca wanted to showcase her soda gun to the crowd again, as most haven't seen it since before saving her. When she asked if she was allowed to spurt it anywhere in the room, Kine said to aim it towards him to help him hydrate. She then aimed right at the sunfish, who drank up a lot of it as she fired it off. The crowd gave a round of applause to watching the soda gun in action again.

This sequence of events occurred in about forty-five minutes. Hyness and the Mage Sisters now get up from their table to make their next move.

"Now, we'd like to shake all of your hands!" Hyness said to the crowd. "There is still more that we would like to converse about afterwards, as we maybe even have a goppoko, but for now we'll be shaking each and every one of your hands as we appreciate the hearts you all had inside you to save us many months ago!"

Taranza's heart started racing. He knows that everyone is going to pay attention to him when the cult comes to him for handshakes, and they may notice his lack of his enthusiasm when it's his turn. It makes him slowly shivering.

Thankfully, however, the cult begins moving to the left side of the room, and thus they seem to be starting to give handshakes to Kirby's table. This gives Taranza some time to prepare himself.

He then felt Susie place her hand on his shoulder, as she drew his attention over to her for a moment. "Hey, Taranza, you don't need to watch this part if you don't want to." she whispered to him. Nobody else heard her whispering aside from Magolor, who then turned to face them both.

"I'm... I'm afraid of what I might end up doing when they shake my hand..." whispered Taranza.

"No worries, bud." whispered Magolor. "We can get that figured out when that bridge gets crossed. In the meantime, it's probably best we have you look away from them until then."

"We'll let you know when it's our turn to shake their hands." whispered Susie.

Taranza nodded his head in agreement. Susie then turned his body around to have him looking at behind her. He's been turned at an angle to where none of his eyes, even the ones on the back of his head, can see the action. Magolor and Susie, however, continue having their eyes on what's going on, as they still give Taranza the occasional pats on the back.

Hyness and the Mage Sisters began handshaking with the far left table, starting with none other than Kirby.

"Bonjam, the legendary pink hero that spearheaded the mission in saving us!" Hyness proudly said to Kirby, as he shook his hand.

"We went out of our way to save you!" said Kirby cheerfully. "We're just like that! If people can be saved, we'll save them! You're ever so welcome!"

Kirby then made his handshakes with the Mage Sisters. Flamberge playfully pinches his cheeks for a little bit during her handshake.

The cult then had their handshakes with King Dedede, Meta Knight and Bandana Dee. It went smoothly.

So far, Taranza has been feeling calm enough, as he continues to look at behind Susie.

After Kirby's table was done giving handshakes, the cult then went to the next table, which seats Marx, Gooey and the animal trio. For the most part, it went well. Gooey doesn't have forelimbs to shake with, so the cult gave him head-pats instead. Kine shook with his fins.

During the cult's handshakes with this table, there was a moment where Taranza felt really queasy, and that was when Marx joked about wanting one of Francisca's frozen corpses. Susie had to give Taranza a brief hug to help him calm down on feeling really nauseated when he heard that come out of the jester's mouth.

When the cult finished shaking hands with that table, they went to the next table. The one that Dark Meta Knight was seated at.

But before reaching that bastard of a knight, they shook hands with Adeleine, Ribbon and Daroach. Taranza was feeling okay during those three having their hands shook. In fact, he even allowed himself to laugh during it, because of the nicknames that Zan Partizanne was giving to those three. The funniest one was 'gremlin fairy' that she nicknamed Ribbon, which got a big laughter out of much of the crowd, including Taranza.

After the cult shook hands with Daroach, they get to Dark Meta Knight next. Magolor and Susie watch closely as they go to him next, because they know that Taranza will be riled up to even hear that scumbag's voice.

"Okay, Taranza, they're going to shake that guy's hand next." Susie whispered to the spider.

"Fuck..." Taranza whispered back.

"I think I should hug onto you during this one..." Susie whispered, as she then hugs onto Taranza to try to comfort him and make sure he stays calm enough to not flip out enough to make others notice. She keeps her eyes on what's going on.

Magolor turned to face them both, and then nods his head. "We'll let you know when they're done handshaking him." he whispered. After whispering that, he turns back around to watch.

The cult begins their handshakes with Dark Meta Knight. "Jamanke for showing up here with us, somewhat-cut masked one!" said Zan Partizanne during her handshake with him.

"Bahaha, who woulda thunk that we would have two rather diligent-looking knights among us?" asked Flamberge as she shook hands with the false knight.

"Pfft... that other knight over there is just some dumb rookie." said Dark Meta Knight. "I'm so much better and greater than him. I mean it!"

Meta Knight facepalmed upon hearing that. It also made both Taranza and Susie sick to their stomachs to hear it. Taranza likely would've already snapped if it weren't for Susie hugging onto him to help him keep calm.

"Ooh... is that so?" asked Hyness, as he shook Dark Meta Knight's hand.

"Yes. You'll find out soon enough." said the mirror world knight.

Before the cult could respond, Marx jumps up out of his seat and gets on top of his table.

"Hey, you edgy borb!" Marx mocked Dark Meta Knight. "Why don't you tell the cult about how you got that cut on your mask? Did you get it from cutting yourself so much, because you're incredibly emo?" He then laughs afterwards.

Everyone, except Taranza, then immediately looks at the jester. Magolor laughs, while Rick and Kine stifle laughter. Everyone else, however, either rolled their eyes or had irritated looks on their faces.

"That's enough, Marx." said King Dedede.

Dark Meta Knight, however, ignores Dedede trying to stop this incoming altercation, as he decides to also get up out of his seat.

It infuriated him to have heard that. He vehemently hates Marx with every fiber of his being. Many of the other star allies also don't like the jester, but Dark Meta Knight is perhaps his single biggest hater. There are many times where he's literally tried to kill Marx, due to the jester having genuinely crossed the line for him.

"I swear to Nova, one of these days, I'm legitimately going to fucking OBLITERATE you!" Dark Meta Knight fired back at Marx with a very menacing tone in his voice. Hyness and the Mage Sisters then put him back down in his seat.

"HEY! Watch your language, Dark!" shouted Dedede. "Kirby heard that come out of your pie hole! And we ain't gonna be obliterating anyone here! Knock it off, both of ya!" Kirby felt uncomfortable to have heard that curse word be uttered out.

Taranza grunts in frustration upon hearing all this crap, while still in Susie's embrace. She herself also looks to be really irritated, as she keeps hugging the spider to prevent him from lashing out.

Both Marx and Dark Meta Knight continue ignoring Dedede's words, as they're still fixated on each other. In fact, the jester just became even cockier.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Marx laughed hysterically. Coo and Rick try to get him to stop, but he pays them no mind. "I really wonder how you'll go on about 'obliterating' me, super edgy knight! How will you do it? Are you gonna split me up into four different Marxes, so I can annoy the shit out of you four times as much? That sounds good to me!" He then lets out another burst of laughter.

Dark Meta Knight snaps. He immediately gets up out of his seat again, pulls out his sword and unsheathes it. Upon seeing him snapping, Marx unfolds his golden wings, preparing to fight back as he continues laughing his bum off.

As the dark swordsman starts lunging at the jester, Adeleine and Ribbon panic as they go and hide under their table.

Many of the other star allies come in to stop the fight from happening. Daroach and the Mage Sisters grab Dark Meta Knight, while the animal trio dogpiles onto Marx to try to force him to sit back down and retract his golden wings.

"JAMBLASTED!" Flamberge shouts in frustration as she continues helping prevent this fight from escalating. "Can you freaking lunatics NOT fight during our event?!"

King Dedede loses his temper. He gets up and slams his hammer onto the floor to draw everybody's attention.

"THAT'S ENNNNOOOOOOUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he screams at the top of his lungs, completely stopping everybody dead in their tracks. He then shoots a glare at the ones that are holding onto Dark Meta Knight. "Please sit him back down immediately!" he instructs.

They did as he commanded. Dark Meta Knight got put back onto his seat and was forced to retract his sword.

"Hey, Adeleine and Ribbon, you're good to come back up now! Sorry that happened." said Dedede. Both girls then get back up from under the table and sit back down.

Susie watches the situation wind down. "Okay, Taranza, I believe it's settled down now." she whispered to him, making him sigh in relief. She then decided to finally release him from her embrace, although she does it slowly.

"I think they're about to come to us for handshakes in just a little bit. You may wanna start preparing yourself for it now." Magolor whispered to the spider.

Everyone finishes up settling down after preventing the fight from happening. "Jamanke to everyone that stopped the fight!" said Hyness. "Now, where were we? My japologies for not remembering."

"I believe we've already finished up handshaking the ones in this table." said Francisca.

"That means the only table left to do is this one!" said Flamberge, while pointing at the table that has Magolor, Taranza and Susie on it.

Taranza's heart raced, as he shakes lightly. It's time. He must make sure that he doesn't mess this up. It's making him extremely nervous, though. He's having a hard time wondering if he can do it. He must hope that he doesn't end up ruining this for the cult.

Magolor and Susie both patted him on the back at the same time. "Are you ready, Taranza?" Susie quietly asked him.

"Y-y-yes. I believe I'm ready." he firmly whispers back, as he stops lightly shaking. But honestly, he's not sure if he is truly ready, but he doesn't want to make himself seem too skeptical to the cult. So now he complies, much to the delight of both Magolor and Susie.

He slowly turns his body around to face the action. Very slowly.

But thankfully, as he turns, he sees Hyness and the Mage Sisters without seeing Dark Meta Knight. It turns out that he's behind them in his view. Phew… he can relief, for now.

"Bonjam to you three, again!" Hyness greeted cheerfully. "Are you ready for our handshakes, now?"

"Yes, I believe we're ready!" said Susie.

Taranza then puts up a smile... it certainly isn't the most legitimate looking smile, but he's trying his absolute best to make it seem legitimate. Thankfully, however, it seems just legitimate enough as the cult comes over to the table.

The cult starts with Magolor.

"Well, well, well..." said Zan Partizanne. "What a goppoko that we'll be starting with the deceptive egg here! Bonjam to you, Magolor. Jamanke for visiting us at our home several times!"

Magolor couldn't help himself but chuckle before speaking back. "Well, it's certainly my pleasure, Zan Parmesan Cheese!" he said while shaking hands with the electric mage.

The crowd laughed upon hearing what he calls Zan. It was the first time that most of them heard it. She herself already heard it previously, though, because he used the nickname when he visited the cult over at their fortress.

"And hello to Flamburger... as well my great blue-haired friend, Friendcisca!" Magolor continued, as he shook their hands, while they both giggled. "Well, everyone, that's what I call them! They're the traffic-light trio girls: Zan Parmesan Cheese, Flamburger and Friendcisca!"

Another laughter from the crowd, even including Taranza. He's still super uneasy, but he feels that he might as well keep going along with the laughter now that he's playing along.

"It's always jonderful to have you come over to visit us!" said Hyness, as he shook hands with Magolor. "Please, always come see us anytime."

The Mage Sisters fist-bump with Magolor before moving on to either Taranza or Susie next.

"Alright, so which one of you two wants to go next?" asked Zan.

Susie gestures for it, putting her hand up. She's giving Taranza just a little bit more time to prepare, much to his relief.

"Oh, it looks like Ms. Susie wants to go next!" said Francisca.

"Ah... Susie. The sweet-tooth office lady." said Zan, as she and Susie deviously locked eyes. "You're yet another one that visits us sometimes, always bringing that metal-spinning top with you. You have to constantly remind us of your cool-girl swag, we get it!"

Susie could not prevent herself from laughing. "That's just part of the deal with being my friend, Zanny!" she said, still laughing. "Anyhow, I'm glad to have showed up for you ladies. Thank you for being my friends these last few months!" She then provides a hand to be shaken with.

The cult shakes her hand. Francisca also patted Susie on the head, while Flamberge fist-bumped with her.

Taranza's body feels tense again. He knows he's next after Susie is done.

"Jamanke for visiting us many times, Susie!" said Hyness while shaking her hand.

Once the cult was done shaking Susie's hand, it is Taranza's turn now.

Taranza's heart raced. His blood begins to run cold.

This is a big moment for him. He can't screw this up. He can't.

Magolor and Susie both looked at him. "You ready?" asked Magolor.

"... Yes!" responded Taranza.

"Bahaha, it looks like we're gonna finish off with Mr. Spidey Guy here!" said Flamberge.

Taranza put up an exaggerated smile to hide his difficult feelings, but luckily they don't see through it.

"Bonjam, Taranza, the bowl-cut intellectual! Another delightful magician troll that comes by our home, as we remember those times you messed us with us by cheekily using your webs!" said Zan. She's given him the 'bowl-cut intellectual' nickname before, but others in the crowd laugh as this is their first time hearing. It's also pretty ironic, since she herself also has a bowl-cut.

"I can shake all your hands at once!" said Taranza, in a tone as cheerfully as possible... which isn't quite as cheerful as he could sound normally, as he's trying to hide his anger.

"What a goppoko!" said Hyness. "Jes, girls, let's all handshake him at the same time!"

They do so. Magolor and Susie chuckle a little bit, as they can't help but be amused at Taranza's exaggerated smile.

This is going well... so far, Taranza thinks.

He went in a cycle of giving them glances while handshaking with them.

"Haha! Taranza, that's a ripper way to end it, mate!" said Rick from across the room.

Taranza then looked over at the hamster. "Hehehehe... yeah, thanks!" he replied.

As he finished up his handshakes with the cult, who then started slowly making their way back to their table at the back of the room, Taranza then gives the rest of the crowd a cheerful glance.

However, while doing so, it came at a consequence.

A dire consequence.

That dire consequence was catching a particular someone in his sight.

Oh... oh no.

Taranza, unfortunately, ends up catching Dark Meta Knight in his sight once again.

And he doesn't stop looking at him.

This... this is bad. Really bad. REALLY BAD!

What are you doing, Taranza? The meeting isn't even over yet! The cult still has more things to talk about after the handshakes were done!

There's a small part of brain that's already making him feel bad for the Mage Sisters that he's about to ruin their event. But he can't get himself to stop looking at that guy. Now that he's got his eyes on him, he can't stop thinking about how much he wants to make that bastard pay for ruining his life.

It's not long until Dark Meta Knight notices Taranza staring him, and makes eye contact. He seems to have been taken aback by it, and thus he begins to stare right back.

Oh no, the two are literally locking eyes now! At that point, things start to take a turn.

Taranza's facial expression then became more visibly angry. Eventually, he starts bearing his fangs, attempting to make some sort of threat display.

Dark Meta Knight doesn't appear to understand Taranza's increased aggression in his face. Or deep down inside, he actually DOES understand, but he doesn't show it in his eyes. He continues to blankly stare back. Inside his mind, he's suspicious as to how the spider found out.

Did that damn rat tell him, even though Dark Meta Knight threatened him not to?

Magolor notices Taranza's increased anger on his face. He turns to see what he's looking at, and... holy crap.

It makes Magolor's heart race, as he notices that Taranza is doing the thing… the very thing that he and Susie were trying their darndest to prevent.

He lets out a panicking gasp as he puts his hands on his head. Susie had heard Magolor's gasp and looked to see what was going on, only for her to also start panicking when she herself notices Taranza staring daggers at Dark Meta Knight.

Both Magolor and Susie are absolutely quivering. Shivers are sent down them. They try to stop Taranza by holding onto him, but he refuses to pay them any mind, causing them to panic even more upon realizing that.

"Oh... oh SHIT!" Magolor failed to prevent himself from uttering those words out during his increased panic.

Unfortunately for him, the rest of the crowd happened to hear his words.

Damn it! It's caught everyone's attention now!

Either King Dedede or Meta Knight would've told Magolor to watch his language, but they're just too stunned to do so right now. They did not expect Magolor to be in such a freaked-out panic like this. What's he panicking about, they wonder.

"Juh?" asked Zan Partizanne, looking at Magolor. She then notices Susie panicking as well. "What's... what's going on?"

"Uhhh... something... something doesn't seem right here!" said Flamberge.

Many others in the crowd are largely baffled.

Daroach watches Dark Meta Knight and Taranza staring daggers at each other. It's made him begin to panic as well, as he pieced it together in his mind as to why it's happening... he remembers yesterday when Dark Meta Knight threatened him to not tell anyone what he said to him.

But the problem is, he didn't tell Taranza! He's becoming suspicious that somebody else overheard his private conversation with Dark Meta Knight from yesterday. There had to be, because HE didn't tell him!

Dark Meta Knight gets up out of his seat, bringing even more attention to the situation. "Why are you staring at me?" he asked Taranza, in an aggressive tone. He already knows the answer, but he's not interested in outing himself.

Gasps come out of Magolor and Susie again. At this point, they know full well that they cannot stop Taranza, so they don't even bother anymore. If they try to stop Taranza now, it'll just seem like they're making him cowardly back down from a fight that he really does need to fight.

They give up.

It's over.

The meeting is about to be ruined before it can finish as intended.

Magolor and Susie come to terms with that, calming down on their panicking as a result. They relax, and now enable Taranza to do what he should do.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" asked King Dedede as he tries to intervene. "Can we settle down over there?"

"No." Dark Meta Knight says, as he gives zero cruds about Dedede's attempt to stop it. "I don't care about settling down over here. Instead, I want to know why he's staring at me." his tone becomes more forceful.

At this point, the crowd has too much curiosity over this situation to be compelled to stop it. Even the cult, despite it being their event.

"Huh?" said Dedede then looks at Taranza. "Uhhhh... Taranza? Is something wrong there, buddy? Did Dark do something to ya?" He would keep trying to stop whatever is happening, but he's very perplexed. He... doesn't understand why Taranza looks so angry right now.

Most of the crowd doesn't. It's not usual for Taranza to look this angry! Something is definitely wrong, the crowd thinks. They're really surprised to see that Taranza of all people is seemingly wanting to pick a fight. It's not a surprise when Marx does it, since everyone knows by now that he enjoys chaos, but Taranza? He's usually either cheerful or sad! Or silly, but not the chaotic kind of silly. It's not like him to be eager to pick a fight!

Kirby in particular looks very, very worried. He remembers earlier when Taranza seemed down while hugging him... almost making him think that it had something to do with what he's showing anger about right now.

"What's up with Taranza?" asked Gooey, having his pupils focused on the situation, despite often being cross-eyed. "Is he okay? Why does he look so mad?"

"I don't know. Something's definitely up, I know that much!" said Coo.

Daroach looks at both Adeleine and Ribbon, and leans closer to them. "Uhhh... I don't think you two should be watching this!" he says, as he attempts to shield them with his cape. He knows what's going to happen, and he believes that these two girls deserve better than to watch it.

Marx watches with utmost curiosity, as he gets up out of his seat again. "Woah, woah, woah! What's THIS?" he asked. "Why's Taranza looking so pissed all of a sudden? Did the edgy borb do something to ruffle his feathers? Are they gonna fight?!" Considering that Marx is all about the chaos, he's hoping that they do fight. He'll be cheering and egging it on if it does happen.

"Hey, how about you speak the fuck up!" Dark Meta Knight said to Taranza in a viciously confrontational tone, as he flaps his tattered wings. "What the fuck are you looking at? What do you want from me? Do you really want to start bullshit with me, you unhinged weirdo? What is FUCK is it?"

At this point, Taranza can no longer have himself keep sitting. He hisses in sheer aggression, signaling he's ready to fight. Magolor and Susie glance at each other while hearing his hissing, as they're now expecting him to start making his move. They're now glad to enable him at this point, as they believe he deserves to hit that son of a bitch real hard.

Taranza gets up out of his seat.

He's ready.

He's ready to let it be known to the rest of the star allies about how this piece of shit ruined his life.

He's ready to then tear him the fuck apart after letting it be known to everyone.

He honestly doesn't even remotely care about the rules at this point. This is his chance to make that disgusting crook pay.

Nothing will stop Taranza now.

Nothing will stop what is about to come.