A/N: Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 81: Time Paradox: Part 2

Smash Mansion

"We don't have a lot of time. Like Marth said, a peaceful world can be the end of a new world." Kirby said. "The real Hoe Kirby is in a castle located at the mountain peak of Smashville, and the real broken time machine is with him. The one in the Smash Mansion is just a replica."

"Wait, so the Kirby in the mansion isn't the real Kirby?" Roy said.

"Must I repeat myself! God, you're so dumb! Everyone! Hop on! We need to regroup with the others." Kirby hopped onto his dying dragon pet. The three of them took a look at the familiar dragon thing, which it looked back with disgust.

"Ugh, humans." It rolled its eyes.

"Wait, is that you Ridley?" Ike covered his mouth with his fist to keep himself bursting in laughter. "When was the last time you ate a proper meal?"

Ridley hissed at Ike and scrunched his crawls. "The last time I ate a proper meal was when I was on your mom."

"Daaaaaamn." Roy snickered, going on Ridley's back first, following by Marth and Ike.

"I swear, you'll regret saying that." Ike gave a punch to his back.

"Giddyup!" Kirby hollered. Ridley began to flap its wings, now soaring through the night sky.

(oOoOoOo)

Smashville

Abandon Bar

Ridley guarded the place of Jazzy Nights, while Kirby lead everyone down the stairs to an underground door. There weren't any live bands in the bar, only four familiar figures stood by each other, making conversations.

Ike was the first to react when he noticed them immediately. 'What the hell? Why is Kirby hanging out with these freaks?'

"I'm back!" Kirby waved his little puffy arm for the attention. "I also brought in some peeps to help us."

"Of course you would, otherwise, I wouldn't have the guts to be patient." The girl in black, long hair with brown, round eyes, poured a drink to the older woman with bright blue hair that hovered above the ground.

"Um. . . haven't we. . . dealt with them before?" Roy pointed out the familiar figures. "Why are they here?"

"That's what I would like to know." Marth couldn't agree more. "Should we even trust Kirby?"

"We need all the hands we can get. I'm Mike, by the way." The blonde with blonde spiky hair showed a hand to the three of them. Another young adult stood next to Mike with long black hair and stale eyes.

"Well. . . this is awkward, teaming up with our old enemies." Marth whispered over to Roy.

"It's bad because Ike is still holding a grudge. . ." Roy responded back while taking small glances at the mercenary, that showed a visible dark flame around him.

'Conceal don't feel. . .' Ike was reminding himself to bring his cool up. He knew all of their faces. Yumi with a serious look yet, easy to talk to, Michelle, Miru's demonic mother with the smug smirk and gentle eyes; Mike with the energetic grin, and Jacob looking dark and emo.

"You guys must be thirsty!" A normal looking man appeared before Marth and Roy. "Have a drink! It's my famous mushroom tea!"

"Mushroom tea?" Marth felt a tiny bit comfortable, knowing it wasn't just defeated foes in the bar. He gently took a small cup that was warm and took a shot.

"Thanks. . ." Roy mimicked Marth and drank the mushroom tea.

"FuCkiNg Richard the Killer. The bastard I killed. . ." Ike was losing his cool, as he ground his teeth like sandpaper rubbing against each other. Marth and Roy never saw the true identity of Killer Richard back at the Resort, so they didn't know how to react. Choking on their mushroom tea was probably the best option for them,

"Well, Ike," Marth walked up to Ike and held his shoulders down before he caused a full fledge homicide. "It could have been worse if Mikoru was here as our ally. You'll end up losing your sanity."

"Since everyone's here, let's get started," Kirby spoke to everyone.

"We're missing him!" Yumi interrupted.

"Oh. . . Nevermind, I'm dumb. Let's get in a group circle and wait for him." Kirby sighed and took another shot of whiskey.

"Kirby drinking whiskey? That's the first." Roy arched an eyebrow to the puffball.

"He's basically why we're still alive! He saved our lives from the evil threats of the Hoe Kirbys!" Yumi stood up on the counter of the bar and squeezed her fist together. "He was the reason why we are standing on our two feet! Can I get a hallelujah?!" She shot he fist to the roof after he hardcore preaching. Nobody was amused, however.

"He's not some kind of god, ya know." Mike crossed his arms and sighed.

Jacob rolled his eyes. "Here we go again."

"Yumi, it's not a big of a deal. He's just using the restroom!" Michelle said.

"It's just my burning passion for him makes me lose control." Yumi hopped down from the counter.

While they waited for him, everyone grabbed a nearby chair and created a circle.

"So, how big is the castle?" Marth brought up a question.

"Hmm, that's a good question." Kirby nodded with a serious look.

"So you don't know?" Ike glared at the puffball.

"I'm just saying it's a good question!" Kirby said.

"Sorry to keep you all waiting, I was busy styling my hair." Another familiar voice spoke louder for the group to here. Everyone turned their heads to him and the past enemies were happy to see him, beside Marth, Ike, and Roy.

'I knew it!' Roy mentally faced palm.

'Please, God, don't let Ike turn into a full-fledged demon.' Marth silently prayed.

"Would you like some mushroom tea?" Richard offered a tray of warm mushroom tea in small cups.

"No thanks." He denied, making his way to the group. Yumi hopped straight off her chair and patted the cushion of the seat.

"My love, I prepared this seat just for you!" Yumi smiled.

"Thank you." He didn't hesitate to sit, while Yumi stood behind him. He adjusted his wavy gray hair and looked straight at the unfamiliar people with his sharp, black eyes.

"Oh, it seems we have more people joining us on this battle. Very well, more the merrier."

"You're Mikoru, aren't you?" Ike spoke in an unpleasant manner. Marth turned his head to Ike who was freakishly calm.

"We haven't even met, yet you know my name? Interesting. . ." Mikoru crossed his arms with a smirk.

"Yes, we have. Let me give you a quick reminder-" Ike stood up from his chair and was about to pick his sword from the ground, but was stopped with a punch in the gut from Marth.

"Sorry for his behavior, he likes to pick fights with strangers. And I rather not fuck up time as we already did before." Marth pulled the mercenary's ear until he was forced to sit back down on the chair.

"I see. . ." Mikoru said. "Perhaps he's a fan of Street Fighter. . . but anyways, let's get down to business." Mikoru pulled out a rolled sheet of paper and spread it on the floor. It happened to be the map of the castle that was the shape of Kirby's face sliced in half.

"I was able to get a sneak peek of the castle itself before robbing a map from one of the Hoe Kirbys," Mikoru explained. "Their defense and I would also include their offense. . . is rather. . ." Mikoru was lost for words.

"Is it that bad?" Michelle asked.

"It's. . . just terrible." Mikoru shook his head. "All they do is partying, drinking, and orgies. It should be quite the advantage for us."

"Oh, is that so. . .?" Marth said.

"But, Hoe Kirbys only recognized their fellow mates with this-" Mikoru pulled up a Kirby face mask with its mouth smiling and its blush symmetrical.

"You. . . you can't be serious." Roy sighed in relief. "I thought it was something else."

"Like what?" Kirby asked curiously.

Roy laughed nervously. "You don't need to know."

"As long as we use these, they'll treat us the same. If not, we'll be ganged raped. Taking over the castle should be a sinch and convincing the leader should be easy."

"Then why do we need a whole group to stop one Hoe Kirby when their defense is weak?" Marth asked.

Mikoru turned to Marth and smiled. "You do have a good point, but we'll save that conversation for later," Mikoru said, rolling the map into a long scroll.

With that said, the meeting ended and everyone used the time to get plenty of rest for tonight.

(oOoOoOo)

Smashville

Castle

10:00 P.M.

Mikoru brought everyone to the side front of the castle, where there wasn't any Hoe Kirbys keep guard, just as Mikoru predicted.

"As you can see," Mikoru showed the back of the map to everyone where its floors of the castle were properly labeled. "The castle has three floors and it's best to split into groups. We may look suspicious even with our masks on."

"You do have a point." Yumi smiled.

"First, Mike and Jacob will handle the outside of the castle." Mikoru eyed the both of them.

"Got it!" Mike saluted.

"Okay. . ." Jacob bowed a little.

"Yumi and Michelle will take care of the first floor. Kill as many can you can in a secret manner."

"Are you sure, Master Mikoru?" Yumi seemed a bit worried about the idea of killing innocent Kirbys. "I mean, they-"

"No mercy, Yumi. We can't let our guards down, regardless. The life of this world depends on us." Mikoru said.

Michelle grinned. "All will be well, Yumi dear."

Mikoru ordered Richard and Kirby to take care of the second floor, leaving Marth, Roy and Ike left.

"So, what do we do?" Roy asked.

"You'll be coming with me to the Third floor. Where the main Hoe Kirby is." Mikoru answered.

"Ok, sounds good to me," Marth said. Ike kept quiet and nodded, feeling something strange about the whole idea.

Mikoru's plan proceeded exceptionally well. Within an hour, the whole castle was cleared, leaving leftover bloodstains of Kirbys marked on walls and floors. The real Hoe Kirby had no choice but to surrender. Fighting the Kirbys off was surprisingly easy.

The rest of the gang caught up with Mikoru and the others on the third floor, waiting for the next orders. With no need to disguised their faces, everyone removed their Kirby masks. Ike stood with Mikoru, as he brought the broken time machine out.

"Well, go ahead." Mikoru pointed his sword at the Hoe Kirby. "Fix it."

"Okay! Okay! Just give me five minutes. . ." Hoe Kirby said, fixing the time machine. While he did that, Ike decided to take a little break, moving himself to a bench between Marth and Roy.

Even with the little break he couldn't help but feel uneasy. "Something's off. . ."

Marth glanced over at Ike with a sly look. "Probably your existence if you ask me."

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that." Ike kept his cool and heavily sighed. "Doesn't this all seem to easy?"

Roy crossed his arms over his back and grinned. "Yea, I see what you're saying, but easy is my middle name. Who cares! We're gonna get the time machine back and change the past!"

"You lazy sack of shit." Ike shook his head.

"Roy's right. There's no need to overthink this." Marth agreed with Roy. "It's a good thing that there are easy paths for us."

"Hmph. . ." The mercenary wasn't all convinced about this easy path. He had a feeling Mikoru was hiding something dark.

"So, you're finished?" Mikoru leaned over to the mastermind Kirby and patted his head. Hoe Kirby broke a few sweats before setting his wrench down on the ground.

"Yes, it is finished. Can I at least have a quick suck-?"

"No." After his solid answer, a dark heavy blade struck Kirby's head violently until it bled out a dark purple. Michelle was the first to notice Mikoru's actions when being told that the ruler of this world shouldn't be killed.

"Yea, I take everything back." Marth got up from the bench and head over to Mikoru, as well as Ike and Roy. Yumi and the others caught up to Mikoru, now standing a few feet where the little Kirby was killed.

"Mikoru, may I ask why you killed him?" Michelle tugged his hands deeper into her sleeves.

"I thought we couldn't kill him or the world will be destroyed!" Mike exclaimed.

"Master Mikoru. . ." Yumi folded her hands in worried, for it was her first time seeing such a side of him she was never used to. Mikoru lowered his head, staring at the Hoe Kirby he killed with his sword.

"You better start talking, bastard." Ike was growing impatient by the second.

"Hm. . ." Mikoru smirked up at everyone, as he pulled his sword swiftly out from the Hoe Kirby's body. Kirby watched with his tiny eyes and took a step back to get in line with Roy. He was now afraid of Mikoru, from his change of actions knowing he had a hidden twisted personally all this time.

"I just want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart." Mikoru started, keeping his wide smirk. "Your cooperation was needed in this journey, and surely it shall not be vain."

Nobody could reply from his response, but rather just kept waiting for him to continue.

Ike couldn't stand his bullshit. "So? Are we just tools?"

Mikoru turned to Ike. "Well. . . what I'm trying to say is. . . I have no use for you guys anymore." He laughed, which his laughter went out of hand into a crazy manic's laugh. "Now that I have the time machine, I can retrieve back what was lost."

The castle started shaking, and nobody had enough time to process Mikoru's words and actions.

"This place is collapsing!" Roy exclaimed. Large chunks of the castle began falling from the high roof, creating a devastated noise. Almost like an earthquake.

"If he gets the time machine, we'll be good as dead. . .!" Marth said.

"I know!" Ike gritted his teeth. "We won't be able to see her again."

Roy laughed. "No shit, we'll be dead."

While everyone panicked for their own safety, Mikoru used the time to snuck away inside the time machine. The roof of the castle was exposed to the night sky, which brought a great opportunity for Mikoru to blast off into stars.

Just when the three of them lost hope, Kirby appeared from the sky with his tame pet, Ridley. "Hurry up! Get on!"

The mercenary mentally faced palm. "You're like a hundred feet in the air!" Ike shouted.

(oOoOoOo)

Ridley was a fast creature to catch up with the speed of the time machine, but even so, the time machine's speed was accelerating in such a short amount of time.

Parts of the midnight sky were cracking, due to its weakening. Time was their enemy, and they must hurry to get Mikoru.

"If the time machine reaches full speed capacity, he'll be gone and it'll be over for us," Kirby explained.

"We have to hurry!" Marth gripped tightly to Ridley.

"Can't you go faster?!" Ike shouted, punching part of Ridley's body.

"With 10,000 pounds on my back?! Think again!" Ridley roared.

Roy sweatdropped. "Are we really that heavy?"

"I think it's because of the earth's gravity that's pulling us down more!" Marth grunted, feeling the intense weight on his shoulders. "And soon it will pull us down even further than we already are. . ."

Ike seemed to be fine even when gravity was pulling down his head, as he got on his two feet. "God, must I do everything?!" Ike then thrust his sword to the time machine and jumped off from the flying creature. For some reason, he was flying just as fast as the time machine.

"Ike's flying!" Roy exclaimed with wide eyes.

"No, Roy. He's using his sword as a teleportation device to get closer to the time machine." Marth said.

"So he's using Aether?"

"Yea."

". . ."

When they realized his inhuman jump was their last hope of saving the world. "GOOOO!"

Mikoru sat in the chair of his time machine, only less than 10 minutes within reaching the full speed capacity. He had a good view of the dark starry sky and decided to eat some of the ramens that were stored in the machine.

"My plans will soon be-" Mikoru released his chopsticks when he noticed a faint sword from his window view. Then a body grabbed the sword and pointed it straight at Mikoru.

"Nani?!" Mikoru placed his plastic bowl of ramen on the small device table and tried to figure out how to invade his attack. He couldn't come up with anything and just waited to die.

"Great Aether-! WHOA SHIIT!" Gravity began to work on Ike and missed the attack.

Marth screamed and was very disappointed with his friend. As Ike fell passed by Kirby and the others, Marth took the opportunity to yell at him. "And you called yourself a Radiant Hero?!"

"Shut up! I never asked to be one didn't I?!" Ike shouted back, falling straight to the black hole that was below the earth's surface.

"We aren't gonna save him, Kirbs?" Roy asked.

"The gravity is pulling us down, if we have him, we'll all die! We'll just have to save him once we get the time machine!" Kirby said.

"Is that even possible at this moment?" Marth sighed. Roy looked down at the miniature Ike that was meeting his doom to a black hole sucking the earth inside. Head first, Ike thought about his life ending because of a time machine that wasn't supposed to be used in the first place.

The mercenary crossed his arms and closed his eyes once he saw the black hole near his eyes. "Our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name-"

Before he could finish the Lord's prayer, something caught a hold of his ankle, which prevented him from falling into the black hole. His life was spared by something, but Ike couldn't see what was holding his foot, so he assumed it was God.

"Are you okay?" The voice spoke to him in his ears.

Ike shivered. "I didn't know God sounds like a girl. . ."

The voice giggled which brought a familiar tone to Ike. He was then turned Ike right side up magically by his own surprise. He looked around for the mysterious voice; the voice that practically saved his life from death. It didn't take him long to know that he was hovering above the black hole.

Ike checked his hands and his feet. He then looked straight up at the sky and could see Ridley flying above him. "And. . . how am I flying?"

He wasn't given a response for a while and Ike thought the voice left him.

"Hey, are you still here?" Ike called out.

"Oh, sorry, I was eating a Milky Way."

"At a time like this?!" Ike exclaimed.

Three small radiant flames appeared before his eyes, and he was reminded of a ghost. The flames combined themselves into a large, humanly figure, revealing a transparent girl with long hair and two buns, dressed in a short kimono with wooden sandals. Ike recognized the figure immediately and tried to embrace her, but his flesh wouldn't do so.

"You're. . . Ma. . . Makato." Ike was in utter shock.

"I gave you a potion of flight, but it'll only last you five minutes." Her voice became more echoey and hallowly in her human form.

". . . You're alive?! I thought you were dead!" Ike said.

"I am dead." Ghost Makato responded. "I died late April. I'm nothing but a spirit, trapped in this world."

"What does that mean?"

"If this world dies, I die." Ghost Makato folded her hands together.

Ike was confused. "I thought you were dead."

". . . Oh, yea. . . jokes on you then." She laughed. For some reason, Ike felt like her sense of humor gotten worse as in terms of cynical. "When I saw you reaching for the time machine, my ghostly guts tell me you were trying to save this world. And I couldn't let you die."

"Makato. . ."

"I couldn't help but notice you speaking my name. Have we met before?" Ghost Makato asked.

"We have, but in a different world," Ike answered. He furrowed his eyebrows and gripped his hand tightly. "I won't let anyone die in this world, especially you! I promise I won't let die again!"

"Again?" She stared at him without any emotions in her eyes, but then her color of her soul was turning red. "Are you saying you were the cause of my death the first time?"

"Um. . ."

"I see. . . now I know why you know my name. Murderer. . ." She growled. Her spirit was tainted red, and Ike was afraid to make another word.

"Wait, it's not like that-!"

"You have less than a minute left until the potion wears off. If you don't save this world within that time, I'm coming for you." After her threat, she disappeared into a vengeful spirit.

Marth and Roy held unto the flying starving dragon and Kirby was trying his hardest to reach Mikoru. "We'll never make it! We're doomed!" Kirby cried.

"No, Kirby! Don't give up!" Marth said.

"What's the point?" Roy sighed and searched his pocket to open a Milky Way. "I need to have the chocolatey taste of a Milky Way before I die. Ike's dead, this world's dead. Everyone's gonna die. Life. . ."

"So pessimistic. If I were you, I would have a Twix." Marth was prepared for this day to happen, as he pulled out a Twix from his pocket.

"Right or Left?" Roy asked.

"Right."

"I guess it's alRIGHT then! Hahahaha!" Roy laughed, following by Marth, Kirby, and Ridley. While they joked, a strong force was passed by them from the below and none of them noticed a thing. A second later, they all noticed Mikoru falling from the sky into the black hole. Each one of them choked on their current chocolate bar.

"Was that Mikoru?!" Marth coughed loudly.

"I th-think so!" Roy was busy clearing his throat.

"But where's the time machine?" Kirby looked around and so did Ridley.

"I thought you all died choking on your stupid candy bars," Ike shouted at them from the built-in microphone of the time machine. When they noticed his voice live and well, they rejoiced.

(oOoOoOo)

June 20th

"If only. . ." Ike murmured the same two words over and over again, lifting heavy boxes into the main garage of the mansion that was filled with many large vehicles and junk.

As he was distracted by his thoughts, he accidentally bumped into Cloud's motorcycle, which he decided to boot it down thanks to his grumpy mood. "If only. . ." He sighed heavily, setting the heavy box on the ground. He looked around the garage and noticed an odd structure covered with a white cloth.

Ike went closer to it, feeling a bit curious. He lifted the white cloth, now looking at what seemed to be a large time machine. He examined it, from the polished tire wheels to the large vintage clock nailed on the top.

The smell of gasoline and cold metal stung Ike's nose, not wanting to take a closer look. "What the heck is a time machine doing in here?" Ike nudged the small window door in which the size was meant to fit for small people. He then knew Kirby was responsible for this machine when a small logo of the pink puffball head glowed in the back corner of the machine.

Ike remembered everything that happened just by making eye contact with the time machine. "I'm not going through the same shit again." Ike was reminded of his past mistakes with the time machine and grabbed a metal baseball bat on the side of the garage. After giving the time machine hell, he decided to write a letter.

A/N: Thanks for reading~ Till next time~