Okay, yes, I know, Sketchy's power is a bit convenient, but hey, it's literally something he can do in the story he mainly appears in, I swear! I know it's a lot to introduce, but it works for both this and the person who owns Sketchy! Anyways, sorry for rambling. Enjoy!
-Joost

Shattering the Stars
Chapter 21: Eulogy

Hours before, while Amy, Crystal, and Mario were out, Link, Luigi, and Tael were making trips to and from Violet's apartment and Freddy's, bringing back their belongings in preparation for their departure.

"Man, you made holding this thing seem…" Luigi grunted, struggling to lift the Ultra Sword through the door, "Easy!" He slammed it down on the floor, exhausted.

"It's weirdly balanced, that's for sure," Link picked up the sword by the hilt and held it steady, "It takes a certain amount of precision to hold it up. This thing belongs to Kirby, after all, so that's probably why it's so bizarre."

"Oh yeah," Luigi remembered what Shatterhand said during their battle in the Mushroom Kingdom. For some reason, he said that the sword was his, and Link explained that it was once Kirby's. Then the plumber felt a little inferior, thinking that his abilities were lame compared to the pink puffball.

"Didn't Mario say he wasn't going to be long?" Tael flew up to Luigi.

"Yeah, that's what I heard. I don't know why he's not back yet," Luigi looked at the clock. Thankfully, clocks in this world weren't much different from what he knew. It'd been over an hour since his brother left and there was still no word.

"Weird…" Tael trailed off.

Link set the Ultra Sword up against the wall and sighed. To tell the truth, he was growing fond of the place he and his fellow travelers ventured to almost by accident. It was oddly comfortable here, even in the apartment, though he could also say the same for the room he stayed in at Castle Dedede or the room he was given at the Inn back in the Mushroom Kingdom. However, it could never beat home.

"We'll get the rest of the stuff, don't worry, Link," Luigi knew there wasn't much more to collect from Freddy's apartment, so he and Tael went off by themselves to fetch it. With Kirby still asleep, Link was left alone, but he didn't mind.

"I wonder if there are any more of those 'Shwaffles'…" Link thought to himself, first walking to the kitchen. When he found nothing, he decided to look around in the rooms, thinking that perhaps Mario and Luigi kept some for themselves. If they did, surely they wouldn't mind if Link helped himself to a few?

In the room where the brothers had been given, Link noticed it was almost exactly the same as his. Plain bed, although this time there were two, one large window, closet, small desk, everything. He admired the uniformity to an extent, but also thought that such similar rooms was boring. It didn't matter, they wouldn't be staying for much longer.

After a couple minutes of searching around the room, Link came up empty handed, unfortunately. His stomach growled, and as he looked out the window, he inwardly made himself a deal to ask if there was more to eat when he got the chance.

Then Link heard the door to the room close.

Whipping around, Link's instincts told him an enemy had cornered him, but instead he saw Violet standing before him, her cheeks flushed with a red tint and wearing something he had never seen before. Oddly, the urge to blush overtook his previous needs of alarm, and he stumbled back, confused. Violet wouldn't even look him in the eye.

"H-Hi, Link…" Violet mumbled, hands clasped in front of her like she had been ordered to do something and she had taken the request with obedience.

"Wha- What are you doing?!" Link was beyond the capacity for words, unsure what to make of Violet's strange attire and meek-sounding voice.

"I-" Violet stuttered, "I-"

After a moment, she fell silent, ashamed of herself. She stepped to the side of the room and looked at her hands, feeling like the biggest fool. After a heavy sigh, she turned back to Link, "It's a m-maid dress…"

Suddenly, it clicked for Link. He let his guard down and frowned, discerning what Violet was getting at. At first he considered just walking out without another word, but a part of him recognized the confused expression of someone struggling. Struggling to figure out their emotions, that is.

Link walked over and sat down on one of the beds, and then pat the spot next to him. "Sit down," He said. The Inkling did as he asked, taking a seat beside Link but putting a little bit of distance between herself and him. She still couldn't meet his gaze.

"Violet… I think I know how you feel," Link began, avoiding from having his voice sound demeaning. While this girl was young, he could tell that she was for the most part, mature and confident, at least on the outside. "You're looking for something, aren't you?"

"What? No I'm not, I'm just trying to… to… uhm…" Uncharacteristically, Violet wasn't able to repel his words with her own.

"You are. I can tell you like me. From putting my tunic on your hope chest, to the way you look at me, and this," Link gestured to Violet's outfit. He wanted to see her face in its entirety, just to confirm his thoughts. "But it's not quite what you need."

"How do you know what I need? You don't know me!" Violet grew defensive at Link's bold assumption.

"I don't know you, but I know the feeling," Link stared off into space, thinking about the past. The way he felt when adjusting to life beyond his sword and shield, it took him years to finally see the whole picture. The best way he could describe it all was 'painful'. "You want to fill up that hole you have in yourself, but you can't do it just like that," he snapped his fingers to accentuate, "It takes time to really figure out what you yourself need."

"…" Violet didn't snap back with another snarky comment. Link smiled at the sight, the girl reminding him of Tatl, especially with how stubborn but headstrong she was.

"For instance, you want to try and woo me, right? Well, I can tell you that it isn't what you need. What you need is something that I, or any partner, can give," Link wondered just how many people had caught Violet's eye in the past, and if one had left her so heartbroken she was desperate for another just to fill in the gap. "I know this will sound childish, but before you can love anyone, you need to first love yourself."

Violet took in Link's words carefully. While she was occasionally impulsive, she knew when someone was being serious with her. A flicker of a memory of Freddy came back to her before getting whisked away by a sigh from Link.

"It took me a while to figure that out," Link thought about how low he used to think of himself after he learned of the now long-gone threat of the Garo Master. "I just want to make sure that no one else has to go through that same, long walk for the right answer."

The two sat on the bed, thinking to themselves for about a minute.

"Thanks…" Violet said softly.

"Anytime," Link replied with a smile.

"Heh, I just remembered, I never even got a good look at your wife," Violet now sounded more like her usual, confident self. "Do you mind?"

"Sure," Link reached into his pocket and showed Violet the picture of Romani.

"Pff, she's not that hot…" Violet crossed her arms, faking a jealous frown. The joking way she spoke gave it away, thought.

Link just chuckled to himself and stood up from the bed. "Come on, you should put some proper clothes on. Besides, the guys are probably back with the last of our things," He said.

"Yeah," Violet watched as Link left the room. She still looked at him with admiration, but this time it was with respect instead of endearment.

That was what Violet kept thinking about as Link, Mario, and Luigi stared down Sketchy with hard, suspicious glares. Once she snapped back to reality, she saw Sketchy just a bit differently than she had before.

"You can what?!" Mario asked, not believing a word of what Sketchy had said.

"It- It's true! I know it sounds insane, but I don't think it's as insane as a group of people not of this world standing in this apartment!" Sketchy countered. He know for a fact that an ability like his wasn't the strangest thing here, not by a long shot. He wasn't even aware of the Ultra Sword or its fantastic powers just yet.

Mario, Luigi, Link, Kirby, and Tael looked to each other before all raising one eyebrow. They gathered around and whispered between themselves, their words just beyond their visitor while he looked on inquisitively. Finally, they broke out of their huddle and faced Sketchy.

"Prove it," Mario demanded.

A blush creeped onto Sketchy's face, and he looked down at the floor, nervous once again. Amy, Crystal, and Freddy were shocked to see the towering Octoling appear so vulnerable. They thought that was impossible.

It took a second before Sketchy responded, keeping his head down as if he was ashamed. After a grunt and a small battle with the other person in his mind, the boy relented. He thought it was silly to just show them, but he had no other choice but to comply.

"Fine, but I can't do it for long," Sketchy looked at the one in the room closest to his height, the blond man in green. "You, describe your home," he asked. Link suddenly felt like he had been attacked, unprepared for Sketchy's question or all the eyes on him. Then, he became nostalgic, thinking about what was going on in Termina, if Romani was alright.

"It's a place called 'Termina'," Link stared. He became even more embarrassed when he struggled to describe the place he had lived in for years. "Very lush region, snowy mountains to the north and a coastal area to the west. In the east is the ruined kingdom of Ikana, which also holds the remnants of a race known as the Garo." What else was he missing? "Oh, at Termina's center is a place named 'Clock Town'. Couldn't miss it."

"Alright…" Sketchy walked over to the couch and sat down. Violet was irked that he just waltzed on in and took a seat, but she also reasoned that he could maybe help the group. "Here we go…" Sketchy told both himself and his other half, focusing on the description Link gave him.

Sketchy breathed in and drowned all other sound out. Then, within his head, a loud, gong-like sound resonated as he peered through his looking glass. He only had a few seconds to look into other worlds, so he made sure to take in every detail.

The picture was fuzzy at first, but as things became clear, he audibly gasped. The land he saw was beautiful, unlike anything he had ever seen in Inkopolis or beyond. Plants, mammals, a sunny sky, and a vibrant, blue horizon. After taking a second to collect himself, he searched around for people, things that he could ask Link about, see if he recognized.

"I see…" Sketchy said while in his trance, "A woman. Fairly tall, redheaded, wearing a kind of sky-blue shirt, and…" A certain detail about the woman caught him by surprise. He had read about the anatomy of mammals before. "Is she… pregnant?"

"Romani…" Link's eyes widened, and his heart skipped a beat.

Sketchy's fifteen seconds were up, and he was forced out of his vision, coming to back in the apartment. The first thing he saw was Link breathing heavily, Tael flying over to ask what was wrong. Mario and Luigi were also worried about Link.

"Are you okay?" Sketchy asked, standing up from the couch and taking a step forward. Crystal intercepted and kept him away from the others, just in case.

"You…" Link was breathing fast, the mere thought of his wife, doing well bringing unimaginable warmth to his soul. "You saw my wife…"

"I-I did?!" Sketchy was astonished that the first person he saw while in his vision was someone so close to Link. "W-Wow, then… congratulations on the baby, I guess…" he mumbled. He wasn't the best at that part of social interaction, sadly.

"He's telling the truth," Link told the others, "My wife and I are expecting a child soon, I remember telling you all that."

"Wait…" Mario had an idea. It was something he so longed to see yet was just as terrified to know. Slowly, the red plumber turned to Sketchy and approached him carefully. "Can you… can you do that again? But for me this time?" Mario couldn't help himself. He needed to know.

"I-I mean, I guess, I usually don't do this over and over again, but I'll try," Sketchy sat back down. "What's your world like?"

Mario turned to Luigi, wanting his brother to confirm that this is what they wanted. After a somewhat hesitant nod from the green fellow, Mario began to explain. "Our world is called the Mushroom Kingdom. The capital is a place named 'Toad Town', with a red and white castle overlooking it. Around the land are forests of both trees and mushrooms, with the Dark Lands bordering them," Mario wasn't quite ready to continue, but his urge kept on going, "At-At least half the town is in ruin because of a man who attacked a couple of days before."

"Okay, I'll do my best…" Sketchy focused again and closed his eyes.

The next vision was cloudier than the last, Sketchy's energy not having quite enough time to replenish itself. However, he was still able to see. The place he found himself looking down on wasn't as decimated as Mario's tone had suggested. He saw little people in what he thought were white hats with red polka dots rebuilding parts of what must've been Toad Town. They didn't look very down and gloomy, all of them helping one another with the effort. Seeing such teamwork brought a solemn feeling into Sketchy's heart.

After coming out of his experience, Sketchy told Mario and Luigi what he saw. The brothers, still having feared the worst for their home after leaving it so suddenly after their failed to defeat Shatterhand, looked at themselves with relief.

"Weege…" Mario said as he embraced his brother, eyes watery and voice softened, "They're alright…" A weak but genuine smile appeared on both mustachioed hero's faces while they rejoiced.

"Wait a second…" Luigi's smile vanished, and his pupils went sharp. He parted from Mario and turned to the other crusaders. "If the Toads are rebuilding, then that means Shatterhand is gone. He's not in the Mushroom Kingdom anymore. B-But…" Some of that perpetual fear Luigi was known for crept along his spine, "Where is he?"

Silence befell the group as the horror of where Shatterhand could be and what he possibly could be doing. They didn't consider the idea that he just gave up, the way he spoke during the fight in the Mushroom Kingdom cemented that he wouldn't stop until any and all loose ends were taken care of. The chances were slim if not impossible.

"We can worry about that later, what's important is that the Mushroom Kingdom is safe," Link put his hand on Mario's shoulder, and the two shared a small smile. In retrospect, they both felt silly for fighting about it before. "Besides, you guys remember what Empyrea said. We need to leave soon and find a secluded world to meet up with her."

"Yeah, but Link, what if we run into Shatterhand? We can't risk that if we don't know where he is," Tael had a point. If the fiend was able to track them to Mario and Luigi's home, who's to say that he wasn't waiting for them to make their move.

"Poyo! Poy poyo! Poyo!" Kirby had an idea and was eager to share it.

"What'd he say?" Mario asked, still not fully able to understand the pink puffball.

"He asked if Sketchy could try and find him. Find Shatterhand," Link glanced at the Octoling, speaking loudly so he could hear.

"W-Wait, guys, I don't kno-" Sketchy muttered while waving the idea away. He was tired, after all.

"I mean, it'd be real, real helpful if you could, just sayin'," Amy remarked, leaning against the wall beside the couch, her own arms crossed.

"Okay- Look, I-" Sketchy felt the burden of desire and responsibility weighing down on him. For once, he felt like he was doing good, but it came at the cost of his own energy, something he greatly valued. "I'll come back later and do it, alright? This… This takes a lot out of me, I need to just recharge, okay?"

"That's fine, as long as you do it, please," Crystal said, smiling cutely as always. Her expression eased Sketchy a little.

"Thank you…" Sketchy said politely. Freddy and Violet were shocked, but kind of pleased with his change of character. It was nice to have him on their side for now. Sketchy left without saying anything more, leaving the group to discuss their plans for moving forward in their quest to stop Shatterhand.

"So like…" Tael was the first to speak up, "Should he join us?"

"No!" Violet immediately protested the idea, balling her fists up again and snarling.

"We shouldn't drag more people into this than we need to," Link said, still a bit weary of letting Amy, Crystal, Freddy, and Violet join their crusade. But if Mario was confident in them, he trusted his faith in their skills. "Though he seemingly is a great help. We never could've figured that Shatterhand left the kingdom."

"True," Mario put his hand to his chin, "Let's just hope he can find where Shatterhand is so we can avoid him."

"Agreed," Link said.

"Wait, hold up," Amy butted in, her mind focused on a certain detail about Shatterhand, "You guys said that he managed to destroy like half of your home, right?"

"Yeah, him and his army," Luigi clarified. He could see that Amy perhaps thought that Shatterhand did it all on his own.

"Oh, phew," Amy relaxed.

"So it's really gonna be just the nine of us against all of Shatterhand's goons?" Freddy wondered out loud. "Th-This seems like… a bit much, don't you think?"

"Well we're also going to get some help. Last night, this being came to us in a dream and explained that she along with four other fellows are against Shatterhand too. I forget their names…" Mario was still in relative disbelief with the events of the dream he and the others had. "But they looked capable of a lot. I remember Empyrea said that they use magic, like you, Link."

"Yeah, I remember," Link said with a smile. "Also, off topic, but uh… do you and Luigi have any more of those 'Shwaffles'?"

Mario blinked for a second before chuckling, tapping Luigi on the shoulder.

"Hah, sorry, we kinda ate them all," Mario grinned, shrugging apologetically.

"No worries, I," Violet pointed her thumb at herself, "…can order us lunch!" She pulled out her phone, smirking while scrolling through her various apps to find a place that'd give them food that the others could also enjoy.

"Isn't it a bit late for lunch?" Crystal said.

"It can be an early dinner!" Violet corrected herself.

Sketchy was walking down the street alone, as normal. He had rested up back home and was ready to return to Violet's apartment and help those folks with finding that man. The name, ironically, had stuck with him the entire time. 'Shatterhand'. It was weird, because at first he thought that they would tell him the man's real name, but they didn't. To have such a strange moniker but no true name, it perplexed the Octoling.

"Shatterhand," Sketchy mumbled to himself aloud while he went down the sidewalk. He ignored the weird looks he was given by the occasional passerby's, his mind locked onto the weirdness of the situation.

"How did they even get here?" He thought quietly, "Can one of them just jump from world to world with ease? No, 'cuz then why'd they bother asking if I could find that guy? They could just take a quick peek in every realm they found." Sketchy shook his head and pushed the ponderings aside as he entered the apartment building and made a beeline for the elevator.

A few more glares were sent his way by the couple leaving the elevator, and Sketchy, now annoyed with the attention, growled at them. That easily scared them off, their feet breaking out into almost a jog as they left. Walking into the metal box and pushing the button for one of the highest floors, the doors closed, and it started its ascent.

As the hum of the elevator droned on, Sketchy returned to his thoughts about that peculiar group of travelers. A part of him admired how varied they were. If such differing people could come together against something far worse, maybe there was hope for someone like Octavio to one day see things from a new perspective. Sketchy chuckled at the idea as the elevator came to a stop.

Sauntering down the hall without much care, Sketchy found the door he visited before. Before he knocked, however, he heard a few laughs from the other side. Amy, Crystal, and what he guessed was that little, pink thing and the red-capped man who bested him earlier.

For some reason that he couldn't explain, Sketchy hesitated on knocking. It wasn't intimidating, having all those people on the other side, but rather what they were here for. If this Shatterhand guy was as bad as they made him sound, he might be in over his head in assisting them in finding him. But one thought kept him going and helped him knock on the door.

Crystal once again greeted Sketchy at the door, and he was happy to have a better reception than last time, though it wasn't perfect. Link, Mario, Luigi, and Amy wiped off their smiles and got serious, while Tael and Freddy remained neutral, and Violet was preoccupied with Kirby. She still found him overwhelmingly adorable.

"Alright, let's do this," Sketchy said, taking a chair from the kitchen and setting it down in the middle of the living room. He wanted to refrain from slouching on the couch since it messed with his concentration.

The others cleared off the floor and gave Sketchy his space as he sat down.

"So, what's this guy look like? I can't find him if I don't know," said the Octoling.

"Tall, ginger hair, freckles, wide smile with pointed teeth," Link started listing off everything he recalled from Shatterhand's appearance. When they first met, even while strung up on a lamppost, the hero of Termina was as acute as ever, making tiny mental notes. "Very dark blue, plated armor, a black gauntlet on his left hand, and a matching cape."

"Most striking feature is his disfigured right hand, I think his palm was curved like the letter 'c'," Mario added.

"Yeah, that should be it," Luigi finished.

"Okay…" Sketchy took another deep breath and focused hard, even more so than he did before. Things again became muffled, slowly fading away as he delved into his own little world within his mind.

In less than a second, Sketchy felt like he went on a journey, piecing together every little detail given to him about Shatterhand and using his energy to peek throughout the realms, searching for the man who matched it all to a T. It took longer than usual to find something, anything in the miasma of madness he sorted through. He had to get it right.

Finally, Sketchy found him.

Shatterhand was at the helm of his dreadnaught, overlooking the land of a place Sketchy didn't recognize. Sketchy couldn't even see the man's face, as he was turned towards the large, beckoning window, but he knew it was him. There was a wicked aura ruminating off him, almost tangible, fouler than anything he'd seen yet. Back on the outside, Sketchy grimaced in the chair, catching the groups' attention while they waited.

"Is he alright?" Tael asked Team Inkstrike. They could only shrug.

About five seconds had passed since Sketchy found him, but he didn't focus on the man anymore. He needed to get the details of the land Shatterhand was looking over, to tell the others in case they knew where he was. The best thing he discovered was that the planet was oddly star-shaped, with what must have been rings surrounding it, floating through space.

Eleven seconds had gone by, almost the limit. Sketchy got one last look at Shatterhand's outfit, refusing to see his face. Satisfied, he readied himself to leave the vision.

"Someone… is watching…" Shatterhand hissed. His slow, methodical, almost hypnotic words were cause for one of the rare times Sketchy froze in fear. How did he-?

"Is anything the matter, sir?" One of the guards asked.

"Yes, there's someone here… spying," Shatterhand continued, carefully looking around. He jolted his head to the side, getting the hair out of his face. "Spying on us. On… me…"

It had been fifteen seconds, and Sketchy, regardless of if he wanted to stay, should've been forced out of the vision by now. But before he could drift away, Shatterhand raised his left arm and harnessed the power of the Dark Matter. A viscous energy shot from the gauntlet's pointer finger and somehow wrapped around Sketchy's astral form, keeping him there. For Shatterhand, the spy started to materialize.

Meanwhile, back in the apartment, Sketchy groaned in pain, his arms being restricted by a force the crusaders could've see.

"Holy sh-" Link exclaimed but was cut off by a 'poyo' from Kirby.

"Sketchy? You okay?" Freddy jumped in and put his hands on Sketchy's shoulders, trying to shake him free.

"Who… are you?" Shatterhand asked as Sketchy's form started to take shape before him. First his legs, torso, arms, then head became clear. It had been twenty seconds by now. The fiend's hair fluttering in the sudden gust of wind generated by the Dark Matter gauntlet.

"ACK-!" Sketchy grunted, Shatterhand examining him thoughtfully, like he was looking at a fish in a fishbowl.

"You…" Shatterhand grinned as he figured out what Sketchy was. The name had eluded him for a bit, but now, seeing the hair, the ears, and the highlights, he was sure he knew. "You're an Octoling…"

Before Shatterhand let Sketchy go, he smiled, letting the intruder get a nice, long look at his face. Then, with a surge of energy from the gauntlet, he was released.

A giant crash erupted from nowhere and Sketchy was sent flying off the chair and across the living room, slamming into a wall. His body smoked, like when Mario hit him in the face and left a scorch mark. The stench of ash spread throughout the room as Mario and Link helped him stand.

"Are you okay?" Mario looked the boy over.

"What the hell happened?!" Link added.

"He-" Sketchy gasped for air, took one step, and then collapsed. He hadn't a clue how Shatterhand managed to keep him lingering there for so long, but it costed him a considerable amount of energy. "He saw me… He knew. He knew I was watching…"

"Is… Is that possible?" Freddy didn't think that's how Sketchy's abilities worked.

"It shouldn't be!" Sketchy hollered, trying to collect his scattered thoughts.

"Did you see where he was?" Mario asked.

"He was in some room, or building, or plane, I don't know! All I saw was some weird thing outside this big window. It looked like a huge star, like a five-pointed star!" Sketchy fought hard to try and stand up on his own, but his legs were almost like twigs, weak and wobbly.

"Poyo!" Kirby cried once he heard Sketchy describe the thing outside of Shatterhand's window.

Mario, Link, Luigi, and Tael all looked to each other and said, "Pop Star", in unison.

"Wait, you guys think he saw Pop Star?" Freddy turned to the other four, flabbergasted. All he received was a nod from them.

"Why'd would he be looking over Pop Star?"

"Is he going to attack?"

"Poyo!" Kirby was the loudest and arguably the most furious.

"Should we head back?"

"GUYS STOP!" Luigi's voice echoed through the room and electricity crackled. He at least got everybody's attention. "Okay, calm down, let's break this down," He picked Kirby up and held him over his head so all eyes would be on him. "Shatterhand wouldn't just go and attack one of our homes for no reason. He left the Mushroom Kingdom, so that just proves he's only out for us!"

"But then why is he there?" Link was worried.

"I… I don't know, but hey, we know where he is now, so we can avoid him!"

"Poyo…" Kirby had managed to calm himself, now wearing a gloomy, saddened look.

"I'm sorry, Kirby, but we can't go after him. He might be setting a trap." Luigi held Kirby in front of his face, showing to the Star Warrior that he too was unsure of everyone's safety.

"It's possible, he did before. When Kirby, Landia, Meta Knight, and I went to check out where we thought Shatterhand was, it turned out he had just lead us there to send a message," Link hated thinking about the remains of the parallel Cappy Town that he and Kirby visited before. Seeing that torn flag still gave him goosebumps.

"Yeah, you see, Kirby?" Luigi just got a slow nod from the pink hero.

"I think it'd be best to continue with Empyrea's plan. Just use the Ultra Sword to find a secluded realm and meet up with her, Landia, and her four heroes," Link mused. The others were in agreement, but Amy, Crystal, Freddy, and Violet were surprised that things were moving so quickly.

"So we're leaving soon?" Amy asked.

"Yes," Link said with resolve, "Right away. If Shatterhand was able to see him," He pointed to Sketchy, "He might be able to figure out where we are if he doesn't already know. Something tells me he isn't going to be happy with being spied on."

"It was… horrifying…" Sketchy said, "That's the guy you're going after?!"

The crusaders simply nodded.

"Well… Then, how else can I help?"

Amy, Crystal, Freddy, and Violet were stunned at Sketchy's request. He truly did want to help them, huh? They'd all be lying if they said they weren't a little proud of him.

"Listen, we are going to need you to stay here," Link walked up to the Octoling and had to look upwards a bit. It was strange how the boy was taller than him, but that was hardly important. "You're not a part of this, but we greatly, greatly appreciate your help. Stay here and keep things safe the best you can, alright?"

"A-Are you sure? I mean, I can fight pretty well!"

"Yeah, that is true, but I think I know what Link is getting at here," Mario stood beside the green hero. For the first time, they shared the same wavelength. "Stay here, we'll do our best to return and check up on you. If we need it, you can help us find where Shatterhand might be next."

"There are plenty of people able to fight here too, so they'd be able to help if anything happens!" Crystal kept her cheery demeanor alive even while the others spoke about things so dire.

"Definitely. If they see someone like Sketchy fighting to protect everything, they'll probably join in," Freddy knew how the folks in Inkopolis thought. If an enemy messed with one of them, the enemy messed with all of them.

"Should I pack some things?" Violet asked without thinking.

Violet's fellow teammates just looked at her annoyedly. They had all seen the movies where that one girl packs too much, they were not about to have that kind of problem during something like this. Violet just chuckled and made it seem like she was joking the whole time.

"Let's not waste any more time," Link revealed that he had already gotten on his gear, in record time as well. "We need to go," He grabbed the hilt of the Ultra Sword and held it firmly.

It was the first time Freddy had seen Link fully decked out with his sword, shield, and item bag in hand. He looked just as valiant as Freddy could have ever imagined. Then, Mario, Luigi, and Kirby joined him. It was enough to make a fanboy shriek. In fact, the blue Inkling nearly fainted!

"C'mon, Freds, don't pass out right now. This ain't the time," Amy told Freddy as she helped him keep straight.

"R-Right, sorry," Freddy laughed nervously.

"How do we get to the roof? That should be a safe place to use this to make a portal without drawing too much attention," Link walked over to the door and peeked outside. What signs that were hung up in the hallway didn't help much, as he couldn't even begin to understand the language.

"Let's go to the elevator, it should take us up to the roof no problem," Violet led the others out, but was the last to leave the apartment. The elevator was too small to take them all at once, so they needed to take two trips. During the first, after Link, Mario, Luigi, Tael, and Freddy piled into the box, Sketchy tapped Violet on the shoulder.

"Hey… uh…"

"No, not now, I'm not in the mood," Violet gave Sketchy the hand.

"I just wanted to say," Sketchy talked over Violet, "I'm not doing this for you."

"What?" Violet didn't face him.

"I'm doing this for everyone," Sketchy said.

With that, the Octoling left, taking the stairs. Violet was the last to go up, thinking about what Sketchy had said the entire time. She was finally distracted by the view on the roof. The sky was hitting dusk, beautiful hues of yellow and orange flanked by the dark clouds casting shadows onto the ground. Such a tranquil horizon was something which Violet and the rest of her friends feared might be the last time they'd see for a while.

Link, with an elegant swing, slashed the air with the Ultra Sword, creating a new portal. It glimmered so brightly that it could be seen from buildings away. A rush of wind blew through the tear in space and time, making all of them wonder what was on the other side.

"Let's do this," Link said, stepping into the portal and heading through. The others followed, all except for Team Inkstrike.

"You guys ready?" Amy asked her friends.

"Yep!"

"I think…"

"Ready as I'll ever be, heh!"

Amy, Crystal, Freddy, and Violet looked towards the portal and finally crossed.