The underside hatch of a quite large metallic flying vessel opened up overhead, the suction beam drawing the meteorite and everyone around it inside before the hatch closed with a loud thump underneath them. It was rustic but sophisticated, every bolt and screw easily visible but not messy, and several screens displayed changing graphs or numbers that were surely some sort of careful calculation. From its red-walled compartment around its two grey wings, it looked somewhat akin to the head Squeak himself, resembling his hat sitting on his head and around his ears in flying mech form- surely such was intentional. Sunlight easily drifted in through the large windows around the cabin, making it feel warmer in the presence of all the cold metal comprising the airship itself. The forest still stretched for quite a ways below, but they could see its edges nonetheless from their higher vantage point- rolling prairies, vibrant blue ponds, little speckles of pink and yellow flowers… Truly, despite the hectic start, it was still a lovely day.

Nem, though, was rather quick to stick one hand against the meteorite's shell, shoving it upwards and easing her way underneath it. "Alright, where does this thing need to go? No way in heck does it need to sit on a hatch."

"Oh, here, let me-" Storo started gently, reaching to grab another edge. He was a few moments too late to do much, for shortly, Nem had the giant chunk of rock held over her head, and he eased up.

"To my study! Also known as the engine room!" Digi piped up, wheeling in front of her and nodding in the direction he wanted her to go.

"You study in the engine room?" Kirby inquired nonchalantly. "Must be loud!"

"Well, an airship's engine is actually on the outside, but it's just the closest room to them," Digi noted, rolling in another direction while Nem turned to follow him. "Besides, I've got headphones, so it's really no problem. But if you wanna see some cool stuff, come on and I'll show you!"

Digi started rolling off down a bigger corridor towards the back of the airship, Nem following with the meteorite over her head and Kirby curiously bouncing along too. King Dedede couldn't help but be intrigued too, and Bandana Waddle Dee followed along shortly after as well, then Meta Knight, wanting to scope things out a bit more than he already had. There were a few doors, the contents behind some of which seemed to gleam slightly as they strolled past, and a few short staircases, but Digi went all the way to the back, where a mechanized door awaited them with a blank screen on the frame to one side that lit up when he got close. 'UNAUTHORIZED PRESENCE DETECTED' flashed across it in bright blue text, to which Digi rolled in front of it and simply looked at it for a moment before the text was replaced by 'ACCES GRANTED' then 'WELCOME BACK, DIGI.'

Bandana Waddle Dee eyed the screen for a moment. "Oh, do you have it programmed to recognize you?"

"Sure do!" Digi easily replied. "The antenna on my eyepiece sends a signal when I get close enough. It'll only open for me or anyone who has the password, which I only give to a few people."

"That's cool…!" Kirby cooed.

"That's awesome," Bandana Waddle Dee concurred.

The green-furred Squeak smiled. "I'm glad you think so."

A few sounds came from the mechanical door, but shortly a click was heard, to which its halves parted and in Digi went. Nem followed closely behind, Kirby next to her underneath the meteorite, and the others trailed in too. The whirring of the engine could be heard outside, that was for sure, sounding something akin to a strong gust of wind coupled with a mechanical groan. The walls were a slightly dulled gold, several big screens and silver shelves mounted to them that held tools and gadgets in all sorts of shapes, and the floors a somewhat glossy back. Some white lab desks with drawers and outlets lined the back wall, some of them with parts and tools strewn across their surfaces and wires haphazardly coming out of their drawers, but on the left and right sides were rather large platforms, the one on the left bigger, with some outlets and gadgets coming down from the ceiling and out of the floor. Some of the gadgets looked downright frightening from their pointy ends and sharp edges, and some of them looked more like laser guns or safety bars befitting an amusement park more than a lab. In a corner on the right side was a large object with a sheet thrown over it, and on the left platform was… something none of them could quite determine for the way glass screens, bent metal pieces, and a pair of gargantuan saw blades were haphazardly placed around with boxes of bolts and screws accompanying. Whatever Digi got up to, none of them could determine- and maybe, just maybe, that was for the better.

"Give me one second," Digi said, rolling over to the platform on the right. "Let me just get this out of the way real quick…"

He jumped onto the platform, to which some of the gadgets sprang to life and started touching his travel apparatus. One mechanical arm unscrewed a few things on the underside while another reached in and seemed to move things around before withdrawing, followed by another mechanical arm coming down and blowing fire from its end to the apparatus' underside too. Whatever had happened, the ones accompanying weren't sure, but in moments, Digi's wheeled contraption was shifting back into a UFO, and he was zipping around with no trouble while the arms withdrew. Kirby was certainly enamored, watching each one move with a big smile, and King Dedede and Bandana Waddle Dee seemed intrigued too while Meta Knight and Nem simply studied the happenings.

"All systems repaired!" Digi said with a grin, darting back over to them. "Okay, Nem, go ahead and place it down on the stand where I was."

The armored lass did so, and some of the mechanical arms reached out to keep the meteorite steady as she set it down, followed by a gadget that emitted a ray of light coming down from the ceiling that zipped around to scan it. Digi's big screens started to change too, one of them displaying a three-dimensional image of the meteorite itself and another showing letters, numbers, and equations none of them could make sense of. The green Squeak himself certainly seemed happy, zipping over to the screens and grinning as he took in the information on them.

"Perfect!" he said contentedly, buzzing around the screens as well as the meteorite. "I've got its mass, chemical composition, approximate density, energy signal… This is a great starting point for nailing down this thing's origin! Now just to get a smaller sample for carbon dating…"

"Carbon dating?" Kirby inquired nonchalantly. "You're gonna use a space rock to find a special someone? How does that work?"

"Well, it works by-…" Digi started, but paused before turning to face Kirby. "No, no, no! Not that kind of dating! I mean determining how old something is, a date of origin!"

The pink puffball didn't seem to care much one way or another. "So like a birthday!"

"You could say so," Digi acknowledged, zipping back over to the meteoroid.

"This is some sophisticated stuff," King Dedede noted, taking in their mechanical surroundings. "Digi, did you create all this?"

"Most of it!" Digi replied, a tiny mechanical arm reaching out of his UFO's side to chip off a tiny piece of the meteorite's black inside layer. "My grandpa helped me with some of it, but a whole lot of it was my work!"

"So what I'm hearing is that you're a massive nerd," Nem remarked, eyeing him slyly.

A thwack from King Dedede's hammer and a pointed glance from Meta Knight, even from under his mask, shut her up.

"He's a smart ally!" Bandana Waddle Dee said to the contrary. "It's good to have a genius around… even if some of this stuff looks kinda scary!"

Digi grinned at the mention, darting over to one of his desks where the mechanical arm on his UFO put the piece of rock into a small bowl and reached into a drawer for a flask of some sort. The arm gave a few hard taps to break the piece down even further, then dropped a bit of liquid from the flask into it- whatever he was doing must've been some intricate process, for he took great care as he did it.

Kirby, however, was curious about something else- a sheet draped over a large object off to one side of the room next to the larger platform with saw blades and parts lying atop it. "Hey, Digi! What do you have over here? Can we see?"

The tiny Squeak almost dropped his flask for how quick he turned around, his eyepiece getting dislodged from its usual place too. "Hold on, don't-!"

The pink puffball was too fast. With one hand, Kirby pulled the sheet off, and Digi froze in hesitance. There certainly wasn't any covering it up again before everyone got a good look at it- a large golden robot with pincers and rocket boosters that bore a striking resemblance to a lobster, albeit one with smallish wings and strange proportions. It probably had looked more magnificent at some point past, for its metallic covering had lost its sheen and seemed scuffed in quite a few places, but it was still rather imposing even if it wasn't in pristine condition. Kirby paused, and so did Meta Knight, the former looking pleasantly confused and the latter looking to Digi with narrowed eyes.

"… Heavy Lobster?" Kirby mused in surprise.

Meta Knight, though, was much more direct in his tone. "Where did you get that?"

Digi's expression certainly looked awkward with his uncovered eyes before he shook his head to get the eyepiece back in place. "Um…!" his voice trailed off before he zipped in front of the golden robot. "W-well, there was wreckage of a large metallic sky- and space-faring vessel that I had observed being swallowed up by the ocean's depths, and to let its pieces tarnish, rust, and waste away when exposed to oxygen and the copious amounts of moisture that come with the seaside would be such a travesty! I just had to salvage something, and this artifact seemed much too valuable not to procure!"

"So you stole Heavy Lobster from the Halberd after I wrecked it," Kirby mused nonchalantly.

At the mention, Meta Knight glanced aside, not saying a word.

"Yes!" Digi affirmed, his vessel darting around in the air with enthusiasm as he said it. He looked to Meta Knight, zipping over but keeping a nice, safe distance just in case. "I mean, you weren't going to utilize it, were you? I couldn't just-!"

"Keep it," Meta Knight said simply, meeting his gaze. "You can likely put it to better use than I can, seeing as it was me that lost it in the first place. Just be warned…" He pointed his sword at the Squeak and said, "… If you use it for nefarious deeds, I will come after you."

Digi was silent for a moment as the sword pointing at him was stowed away again, then replied somewhat awkwardly, "U-understood!"

Kirby, though, was still studying it, touching it nonchalantly and taking note of his distorted reflection on its dulled surface. "Are you gonna fix it, Digi? You could do some cool stuff with it, I bet! It wasn't easy taking it down the first time!"

"I haven't decided yet," Digi replied, the mechanical arm on his UFO reaching out to grab the sheet. "This thing would be wild with some upgrades, but I just need some… inspiration. You know, something that-"

"Oh, shut up!" Nem shouted suddenly.

Digi frowned, draping the sheet back over the larger robot. "Hey!"

She clutched the edges of her hat with a flustered look and said, "Gyah, not you!" before she glanced upwards while pulling it a bit further down on her head. "Sucks to suck, you useless, holier-than-thou…!"

She muttered a few things that they couldn't quite make out, but by the look on her face and the borderline growling sound of her voice, it couldn't have been nice. Kirby wordlessly edged closer to her and patted her back, to which the armored lass sighed and shook her head, calming down but with an unamused expression.

"Hey, Nem," Digi said intently, floating closer to her, "can I scan you? You're a robot, and a pretty sophisticated one… I'm pretty curious about how you work."

The one in question shot him her unamused glance, flatly replying, "That is a stupid-ass idea. Trust me."

"Oh, come on!" Digi pressed, smiling haplessly. "I have sophisticated systems too, you know! I'm not trying to change you or hack yours or anything like that, I just-!"

And just like that, Nem went to looking amused, albeit with her intact eye wide open and her empty socket narrowed in an incredulous sort of amusement. "I'm not worried about that, Digi- I know good and well that the only person that changes me is me. I don't care how sophisticated your systems are, they'd probably crash the second you tried."

The green-furred Squeak deflated. "Awww, if you say so…"

At that moment, though, the door slid open again, and in strolled Daroach. "We'll be setting off soon," he said matter-of-factly, looking at them all in turn. "The meteor shower last night had them primarily flying north from here, towards the coast, so that's where we'll be headed. Digi, are you able to pinpoint any?"

"Ah!" Digi exclaimed, zipping over to one of his desks and his UFO's mechanical arm tapping a few keys. "Getting an exact location will require me to collect more data, but check the monitors up front! I'm getting some signals!"

"Appreciated," Daroach said with a slight smirk, turning and heading back out with his cloak flowing behind him. "We're headed to the beach, comrades!"

Kirby perked right up. "Oooh!" he exclaimed with a grin. "The beach! We can go swimming and lay in the sun!"

"We can sip juice from coconuts," King Dedede too remarked, seeming content likewise. "After we deal with the dragon eggs, of course."

Nem, though, perked up and cast the pink puffball a funny glance. "Swimming?" she inquired. "Isn't that dangerous? Are you sure you're that resilient?"

"Is it dangerous to you?" Digi piped up, tinkering around with the meteorite dust sample. "Rust takes a while to develop with moisture and oxygen and you seem to be in perfect working condition, but maybe you don't need liquid getting into your empty eye socket."

Nem only appeared even more befuddled, looking to Digi even as he tinkered around. "No, I've taken a dive into lava plenty of times before and I'm alright, but an organic life form tends to not fare as well unless I'm completely missing something."

It was everyone else's turn to get odd looks, and Nem couldn't help but to pause upon seeing everyone do so.

"You go swimming in lava?" Bandana Waddle Dee was the first to vocalize.

Nem's eye drooped awkwardly, and she glanced around as if trying to make sense of the conversation. "Well, yes! I mean, you don't just jump in, do you?"

"In water, yes, but not in lava," King Dedede noted, looking as befuddled as she did but almost amused.

At that, Nem paused again, before a shocked expression crossed her face. "No fu- freaking- way!" she exclaimed, glancing around again. "You guys go swimming in that stuff?! You have enough to do that?! Like, pools of it that you can just jump in?!"

"We have tons of it!" Kirby easily replied, still grinning. "We've got pools, lakes, seas… a lot of water!"

The armored lass looked like she'd just short circuited for her reaction. "You-… How in the-…" She shook her head, then broke into an awkward grin, looking down at the floor. "Yeeeeaaaaaah, this is different…~"

Kirby chuckled, grabbing one of her fingers and tugging her towards the door. "C'mon! When it comes into view, I'll show you, and when we get there, you can see for yourself!"

She wasn't protesting, and off they ran, Kirby with his light footsteps and Nem clanking close behind him.

"Wait a second!" Bandana Waddle Dee exclaimed, running along too. "Nem! Do you seriously just-!"

The door closed behind the three of them, leaving Digi, Meta Knight, and King Dedede to stare at where they'd been moments prior.

"… I have so many questions," Digi mused flatly.

"I have no idea what to make of that one," King Dedede remarked.

"I'm watching her," Meta Knight declared before starting towards the door too.

Kirby, though, dragged an excited Nem back to the front of the airship where all the windows (and the rest of the Squeaks) were, Bandana Waddle Dee keeping close in tow. Daroach was at the steering wheel, a different sight displayed on the screens around him- something more akin to a radar with a cluster of flashing targets someplace to the north- and the other Squeaks were nearby too, Spinni looking fairly excited about what he saw and Storo taking it in likewise.

"We're gonna strike it big time, boss!" Spinni exclaimed, bouncing slightly as he eyed the screen.

"This is wonderful," Storo said mildly.

"This is shaping up to be the treasure trip of the century, and I am all for it," Daroach remarked with a grin.

Spinni and Storo perked up as Kirby, Nem, and Bandana Waddle Dee strolled over, Daroach only casting a small glance backwards with one hand on the steering wheel.

"Daroach!" Kirby said. "Nem has never been to the beach before! We have to stop and show her when we get there, okay?"

"Don't worry," the head Squeak replied suavely. "There's always the chance of treasure washing up on the beach. I don't intend to forsake that chance."

The pink puffball giggled happily, jumping up to look out the window to which Storo gently swooped him up and held him where he had a better vantage point. The giant Squeak swooped up Bandana Waddle Dee with his other arm to peek out too, and Spinni jumped on his back while Nem simply stared out. It was mostly green stretching towards the horizon, thick forests covering green fields and the green fields stretching out even farther than that. The sun was fairly bright, but not oppressive- simply a comfortably striking brightness and a comfortable warmth.

"You'll see it eventually- the water is bright blue, like the sky but a little darker!" Kirby noted, giving Nem a happy smile. "It stretches out for a while!"

"That's incredible," Nem mused, studying the scenery down below. "I… haven't seen anything like that before." She chuckled, getting a slight smirk and looking upwards. "Oh, yeah, yeah, and you have a lot to say, don't you, you good-for-nothing…" She stifled herself before something egregious left her mouth.

"You ever think about ditching that hat?" Spinni asked, shooting her a glance.

"My hat is my friend," Nem brushed him off. "I'm not getting rid of it."

No one pressed the issue.

Shortly they were joined by Meta Knight, King Dedede, and Digi, to which Storo placed the ones he held down and Kirby gave a friendly wave as if they'd been gone for much longer.

"Analysis is running on the meteorite," Digi noted.

"And we'll have more to come," Daroach said with a grin. "I should say for the rest of you- living quarters are upstairs, and if you're travelling with us, make yourselves at home. You know where Digi's study is, command central is right here, and along this corridor are the treasure rooms. I don't suppose I have to say this, but just to cover our bases…" He turned around and stared the visitors in their eyes one by one. "I won't take kindly to it if you try to steal our bounty." Back to looking out the front window he went, one hand back on the steering wheel. "But other than that, do as you will."

"That's rich coming from a thief," King Dedede said under his breath, getting a nudge from Bandana Waddle Dee.

"Thank you kindly for taking care of us," Bandana Waddle Dee piped up.

"Much obliged," Meta Knight concurred.

Spinni and Storo headed off upstairs to relax after a hectic start to the day, talking about grabbing a nice energy drink or two to recharge, while Digi zipped back and forth between his study and peeked at the monitors up front. Nem stayed staring out one of the side windows and Meta Knight peered out the front window where Daroach took up, presumably to keep watch for any draconic threats but also occasionally glancing backwards at the armored one. King Dedede couldn't help but to take a peek into the treasure rooms, perhaps out of simple curiosity but undoubtedly also to check if anything familiar turned up in them.

"So I just have to ask," Bandana Waddle Dee piped up, peeking out next to Nem, "just how did you end up tangling with Whispy?"

"Oh, yeah!" Kirby exclaimed, studying her inquisitively. "You never did tell us! What have you been up to, huh?"

Meta Knight immediately perked up at the mention, but didn't peer back to make it obvious, and King Dedede was certainly listening from the nearest treasure room.

Nem got a haplessly awkward expression as she explained, "W-well…~ You guys saw my house, right? After I came crashing down in the forest, I figured I needed to make myself a place to stay, and I sure as hell- heck!- wasn't using the meteorite as building material for how cool it was! The trees were easy enough to cut down and throw together, so when I stumbled across a big one, I figured I could chop it down and make a bunch of planks in one fell swoop, but…~"

"You tried to cut down Whispy?!" Kirby exclaimed, his eyes going wide.

"I didn't know Whispy had a name or feelings!" Nem brushed him off, making some flustered gestures with her hands. "I mean, not that a tree can't have a name or feelings, or that I necessarily care if a tree has a name or feelings, but c'mon! You can't blame me for being caught off guard!"

Meta Knight, though, couldn't help but to interject, one eye on them and the other out the window. "What is this about you 'crashing down?'" he inquired. "Nem, what happened?"

Nem looked even more flustered, awkwardly looking to the knight while stammering for a moment, "Gyah, I-…! I-it's a convoluted story, but I, well…~" She sighed, plopping down on the floor against the wall. "I was kinda trying to put a lot of distance between me and the place I was stuck, alright? I had a huge falling-out with some comrades, we got in a fight, and I got locked up in a god-forsaken hellhole with nothing but this tool-" she pointed at her hat, "-to keep me company for who knows how long. So when I could finally crawl out of that god-forsaken hellhole, I saw a meteor shower and said to hell with it, jumped on one, and fucked off- er, ran away. No way in heck was I sticking around."

"And the one you jumped on was the one outside your house," Bandana Waddle Dee surmised.

"Right," Nem affirmed. "I fell asleep on it somewhere out in who-knows-where, then I woke up at the bottom of that crater with it already busted open. Damn- darn- shame I couldn't see it happen, but I guess meteorites crashing into things and stuff going boom isn't exactly something I get bothered by." She chuckled, getting a mischievous look. "I mean, you guys saw my drawings in the dirt, right~? Gyahaha, nothing quite like some good old space chaos and asteroid storms to keep you entertained…~"

Her last remark certainly struck them as odd, but it certainly wouldn't have been the first time an entity from a location far away had come crashing onto Planet Popstar- Ribbon the fairy, the Lor Starcutter, the Access Ark, the dragon-incubating meteorites themselves…

"What happened with your comrades?" Kirby inquired, studying her with a bit of friendly concern. "It sounds like it was a bad time."

Her expression contorted for a second, going between uncertain to amused and finally landing on an odd mix of the two. She jumped up, getting much more spirited as she explained, "Gyah, Kirby, they all sucked! Just the absolute worst, kinda like this one!" She gave her hat an accusatory point to indicate who 'this one' was. "Not a shred of honor! Just take what you want from everyone else, the rest of the galaxy be damned! Never stop and think that just because you can doesn't mean you should!" She snarled for a moment, grabbing her hat and shaking her head before keeping on, pacing back and forth with her hands clenching into fists or wildly gesturing at nothing in particular. "And y'know what~?! I said fuck that! So I did something drastic because no way in hell was anything else gonna work, and we got into a huge fight." She paused for a second, facing them all and pointing at her empty eye socket that started to spark more with her worked up state. "I lost this, my core got damaged in the process, and that was enough for them to lock me up and throw away the key. But y'know what~?!" Back to pacing and gesturing she went, an utterly wild look on her face. "I got the last laugh! Maybe I got damaged and locked up, but they were screwed!" She glanced upwards, her intact eye wide and her empty socket narrowed with a giant grin on her face. "Nice try, jackass! Next time, try harder! Gyahahahaha~!"

She held both of her hands upwards towards the ceiling with nothing but her middle fingers extended, giggling to herself with wild eyes, and though her story made sense, her company still had no clue what to make of her. If she'd been fighting against a bunch of people with less than honorable intentions, she was certainly no villain, but all the same, Nem herself was… off. Daroach didn't say a word, but he was certainly making some facial expressions as she told her tale, and King Dedede didn't chime in, but certainly paid attention as he combed over the fancy chests and piles of sparkly objects not too far away.

Kirby didn't care much one way or another, though, strolling up to her and giving her a pat on the side again. "Awwwww," he cooed. "That must've been awful. No wonder you swear so much."

"Gyah, it was terrible!" Nem easily affirmed, her face falling and voice sounding a bit exasperated as she turned to the pink puffball. "I don't ever wanna go back there again!"

He hugged her, or at least, tried to, seeing as how small his outstretched arms were around her form. "We won't let it happen! You're safe with us!"

She eased up and… smiled a bit, studying him as if unsure what to make of him, but gently cupped her hands around him. "… You're alright, little guy.~"

"Is there any chance of those people or their associates trying to hunt you down?" Meta Knight inquired, more concerned than anything.

"None," Nem replied easily, turning loose before Kirby did. "Trust me. There is no chance."

With the amount of confidence in her tone, they weren't doubting her, and the smirk that graced her face as she declared it sent a message… maybe not a good one for the former comrades she referenced, but a message nonetheless. Wordlessly, Meta Knight gave a nod and went back to watching out the front window, and Kirby and Bandana Waddle Dee accepted it too.

Nem stayed looking out the window, Meta Knight stayed keeping watch for any unwanted aerial company, Daroach kept the airship on course, but Kirby and Bandana Waddle Dee simply had to go explore the rest of the ship and scuttled off to join King Dedede. They were immediately wide-eyed at all of the gold and sparkles, treasure chests lining the walls and fancy gemstone jewelry pieces, golden gadgets, silvery pieces of ornate armor, or gem-encrusted weapons mounted above them. Some of the chests overflowed with gold coins, shiny medals, sparkling jewels, precious gemstones… Truly, it was a sight to behold. King Dedede was inspecting the contents of one, an ornate red crystalline sculpture in the shape of a bird roosting over gemstone eggs in a golden nest, and glanced over to see them with a grin.

"Well, good news is that I haven't turned up anything familiar, but keep your eyes out, fellas," he mused, carefully placing the sculpture back amongst a bed of golden coins. "Who knows what they've run off with."

"Shouldn't we be a little more careful about opening chests?" Bandana Waddle Dee piped up. "You know, considering what happened last time?"

"Well, Dark Nebula is gone, and if there's another thing like it staying in one of these chests, we can handle it," Kirby said, not too worried.

"That's exactly right," King Dedede concurred.

The one inquiring let it go.

"I guess this really is the best set of allies we could hope to have if what we're looking for is shiny," the king said with a chuckle. "Those runes on Nem's meteorite better be a recipe for key lime pie instead of some doomsday prophecy, or I'm not gonna be very happy with these dragons."

The pink puffball's face lit up. "Maybe we should try bribing the next one with food!"

"Speaking of food," King Dedede remarked, closing the chest, "what do you two say we go see what these Squeaks have?"

Kirby and Bandana Waddle Dee certainly weren't protesting, skipping out of the room and making their way up the stairs. The silver walls were replaced with red, and the metallic floor too was covered by a cozy red carpet. Some doors were shut, presumably leading off to places to sleep in peace and quiet, and towards the back was a smallish kitchen with a big pantry while a comfy-looking sofa sat against another wall to the right. Spinni and Storo both took up at a table, underneath which was a basket of board games and playing cards, with an energy drink next to them, a game of checkers underway and the smaller Squeak looking noticeably flustered.

"I can't believe you jumped me," Spinni remarked, moving one of his pieces.

"Those are the rules," Storo said mildly, making his move and jumping another.

A cry of protestation came as Spinni buried his face in his hands and said, "Okay, fine! You win! You always win!"

"We can play another game, you know…"

"It's not the same!" Spinni fussed haplessly, then glancing over, "Hey, guys!"

"Hey!" Kirby replied, giving a little wave. "Do you guys have any snacks around here?"

"Pfft! Only any kind you want," the smaller Squeak replied, quickly backing away from the table and dashing towards the pantry.

He threw it open and indeed, there were plenty of snacks lining the shelves- pastries, candy bars, instant noodles, granola bars, crackers, chips… It was lovely. King Dedede fixed himself a cup of instant noodles, Kirby took a fancy to a donut filled with strawberry jam, and Bandana Waddle Dee was content with a package of cheese crackers.

"You guys ever play Mao?" Spinni inquired, taking up at the table again and reaching under it to grab a deck of cards. "Pull up a seat and let me deal you in!"

Kirby admittedly wasn't too sure of what 'Mao' entailed but was happy to join in, and he dragged over a stack of cushions off the couch to sit on, seeing as there were no extra chairs around the table. King Dedede and Bandana Waddle Dee certainly didn't mind either, though space at the table got a bit tight on account of five people taking up around a four-sided object, two of which had fairly large figures. Spinni started handing cards out, everyone keeping their cards hidden (and close to their bodies, seeing as Storo could probably peer down and see them if he wanted to).

"So, what are the rules?" Bandana Waddle Dee asked.

Spinni smirked. "The only rule I'm allowed to tell you is this one!"

"So there are no rules?" King Dedede inquired, getting a funny expression.

The smaller Squeak smirked even more as he said again, "The only rule I'm allowed to tell you is this one.~"

"Oooh! We have to figure the rules out as we go!" Kirby noted.

Spinni nodded, snickering to himself.

At the front of the airship, though, Nem peeled her eyes away from the window for a second and glanced towards the front of the ship, where Daroach was still steering and Meta Knight was still keeping watch.

"Hey, boss guy," she said, traipsing over next to Daroach.

"Hey, foul-mouthed armored robot," Daroach replied with a slight grin.

Her intact eye narrowed on him for just a moment, but she didn't protest and started to grin a bit herself. "That cane of yours is something else- where the hell did you get something like that?"

"The Triple Star cane?" he replied, eyeing her slightly. "It's a treasure I've acquired. It's classy and packs a punch- I find it very fitting for when I need to make an appearance."

Nem chuckled a bit. "'Acquired?' Is that a fancy way of saying you got it through shady means?"

"Make your own conjectures, Nem.~"

"That's a yes," she said, eyeing him mischievously.

"I'm quite intrigued by your axe too, if I'm to be completely honest," the head Squeak noted, eyeing her in turn. "It seems valuable."

More chuckling. "Well, it's valuable to me, that's for damn sure," she replied. "I don't think I'd ever get another one if this one got screwed up… The people that made it are long gone and I don't miss 'em."

Daroach eyed her some more. "So it is valuable. It has unique craftsmanship and channels a great deal of power."

Her expression turned awkward, and she reached back to grab its staff while narrowing her empty socket. "You try to steal it and I'll splatter you across the ground!"

The head Squeak laughed, looking ahead again. "I wasn't intending to," he said nonchalantly. "It was a mere observation.~ At the moment, you're an ally, and stealing your weapon would be most unwise."

She studied him wordlessly for a moment, then eased up, her hand going back to her side. "Speaking of valuable stuff, I'm guessing it's gonna be a little while before we hit this giant body of water?"

"Likely," Daroach affirmed. "So if you wish to relax or wander around, you have plenty of time to do so. Believe me, the ocean is not going anywhere."

She turned around and started traipsing off again, saying, "I think I'll go see what your nerd is doing to my meteorite."

Daroach chuckled. "Don't let him get too overzealous- he may try to dismantle you to see your inner workings.~"

Back to the door she traipsed, where 'UNAUTHORIZED PRESENCE DETECTED' flashed across the screen next to it again before 'ACCESS GRANTED' and 'WELCOME, FRIEND' followed. There was Digi, zipping around while some of his devices scanned the meteorite and several mechanical arms tended some flasks on one desk.

"You know I'm not going to break it," the smallest Squeak said simply, glancing over at her.

She chuckled, strolling closer with a grin. "I just had to be sure.~"

"Well, I heard your story and I understand the sentimental value," Digi noted, zipping up to one of his screens and carefully taking in whatever data it displayed. "If this thing came from another world or from someplace outside this galaxy, then I just need to cross-reference its properties with typical inorganic material from other samples I've gathered…"

The armored one gave a slight jolt. "You heard all that?!" Nem inquired, glancing up at him. "You were back here the whole time! How could you listen?!"

"A series of cameras and audio-collecting devices placed at strategic points around the airship that I'm capable of remotely tapping into if the need arises," he replied, looking down at her. "Security systems, Nem."

The armored lass blinked. "… I should've guessed."

"And for what it's worth, if you need repairs, I might have to study you a little, but I can probably work something out."

Her empty socket narrowed a bit while her intact eye stayed as it usually was. "… Are you offering or insisting?"

"Offering," Digi replied. "It's none of my business- maybe you like being one-eyed and broken-cored, but if you don't, I can help."

She blinked, still studying him. "… Well, it might not be any of your business, but I think I'm alright for now," she replied before looking upwards and breaking into a rant again. "Oh, shut up! Yeah, I could totally go back to my former glory and then some, but that's a stupid fucking idea! I wanna enjoy life as an ordinary person for once! Heaven knows you sure wouldn't let me if you were the one in control!" She sighed, shaking her head. "Gyaaaaaah… Sorry, that wasn't directed at you…"

The smallest Squeak turned to one of his keyboards and his UFO's mechanical arm pressed a few keys as he replied simply, "I didn't figure it was."

She chuckled a little, one eye narrowing while the other drooped in an inquisitively befuddled expression. "Well, I guess that's nice to know regardless. Thanks, Digi."

Digi started to grin a bit. "And if you ever wanna let me study you before that-!"

"So that's how it is, huh?" Nem cut him off with a wild smirk, reaching back for her axe. "You're just gonna use my busted-up state for your own whims?"

Immediately he dropped the grin, zipping around in the air as he exclaimed, "Ah! No, no, no- sudden hostility and a propensity to generate a large amount of force detected again! Willingness to engage in battle on flagrant display despite an unarmed opponent and severely inconvenient terrain! Get your hands off that thing, Nem! Don't make me pull out my cannons!"

Nem snickered, easing up and indeed getting her hands off of her axe. "I just had to be sure.~"

He breathed a sigh of relief, looking back to his screen. "Analysis indicates a liability waiting to happen…" he mused to himself before turning back to Nem. "But I think my machines are fine running on auto-pilot for now. You wanna go see what the others are doing? It seems they're playing games upstairs, and if you're antsy to get to the beach, that would probably make the passage of time feel faster."

"The kind of games where you bet things or the kind where the last person to wuss out wins?"

Digi was silent for a moment, then started for the door. "Something tells me we're talking about two completely different things," he remarked simply.

The armored lass didn't protest in any case and traipsed after him, the door shutting behind them while the scanners and mechanical arms did their work. Daroach stayed steering the ship, Meta Knight kept watch, and the rest of them goofed off upstairs, snacking and gaming for quite some time.

Author's note: For the uninitiated (lookin' at you, TheDragonSaver), yes, Mao is a real game, and I played it many a time in high school. The mischievous ones amongst us set rules dictating people did the 'I'm a little teapot' dance or licked a chair leg to avoid taking a penalty on certain turns.

… Don't even get me started on 'death card,' which I am certain was made with the express purpose of making people cry- I ended up licking bean dip and bird seed off a bus floor because some upperclassmen thought I was lying about my inability to be grossed out. That was the day I learned that yes, a lot people do consider that objectionable, and everyone else figured out that I was a little hellspawn that should never be put in charge of the 'death card' because I'd probably make them eat bird droppings off the hood if I drew their card. (I totally would.)