Chapter/Tale 5: Their Escape From Destiny: Act 2

Author's Note Intro:

Heya! It's been a year since I last posted a chapter! So I hope you all had a wonderful break! And now we're back for more of this! That aside, I guess I should say that possibly the arc with the escape may occur somewhere during this chapter or the next one. Unfortunately, I haven't even decided on how to set the whole thing out on that part before, but I'm positive it'll work out somehow; to be honest, I made the story to be flexible around other things that I may wanna add in as well without leading the story on a different path and tangle the plot. For example, I made the timeline of this to be way before Smash Ultimate comes as I stated the game is canon here. Furthermore, since it's combined with both the anime world and the game storyline and spinoffs, that makes pretty much everything canon here, I guess, but it happens on a different time scale depending on which you look into. Ah, probably it may not make sense now, but perhaps I can give a much better-detailed explanation in the near future. In short, I can easily bend the story in certain aspects of it even if that wasn't originally planned when I first started writing Shards of the Triforce. I guess that was a warm-up for me, but I still like my first one.

With the matter on story bending- when I first started, I had never planned to let the princess escape at first, but after Merendinoemiliano gave me that suggestion after the chapter 1 arc, I decided to change gears on this, but I thought that would mean I had to start over and rewrite the story again. Eventually, when I first made a single chapter solely on Kaila, I realized that the plot I made can easily be bend if done correctly; that was of course 2-3 years ago. So, realizing this, I decided to rearrange the original idea I had planned and made it into something better by taking that advice into account. Gradually, more ideas popped into my head and that's what made this story what it is now. Unfortunately, because I was a rookie and a noob by the time I did this, the effects of starting out linger in previous chapters, and so I had to edit them once I've gotten deeper with the plot so no one would have to read the previous cringe of my freshman year again. And I'm still making edits to them, specifically around the Chapter 1 and 2 arc. But I think I'm doing better now with writing.

Wait, why am I even saying this? I shouldn't be boring you all out with that lame exposition of my writing! In that case, the point is before this chapter 5 arc I haven't clearly decided on what to do yet, but I managed to do so. Case and point. Eh, screw this! Let's just get on with the plot already. Oh, and let's enjoy 2019 everybody!

Dedede's POV: Reminisce the Sin of Nightmare

It never occurred to me that I'd ever hear about the Demon Beasts again, considering what happened in the past. That sin still lingers in my soul; a self-made king who foolishly sold out the citizens for his own attire of gains and not caring about the disastrous results that come with it. It irks me every time I was chained and forced to recall those events. Sometimes I even questioned why I even had that delivery system in the first place, or even how I knew of it at all.

Too bad I can never go back and fix it all, but at the same time I felt like it was the right thing to do when I did have it… what's the point? No one, not even you would believe me if I told you what I meant by that. I won't deny it's my fault, but I have a good reason for doing so.

But after what happened yesterday, I feel my sins crawling on my back even more as I heard about Wolfwrath attacking from the ashes. Now I knew I messed up big time, and I'm gonna make sure I fix it sooner. If the rumors are true, then there's no doubt Nightmare may be plotting his revival by means of Monovoida, a Demon Beast I've never heard of… have I? Wait a minute…now that I think about it, in Nightmare's Fortress, I did see some containment capsules that were working projects, perhaps some were being experimented on or created in the process. Could one of them have been Monovoida?

I must be overthinking things again, and during breakfast too where I was lost in a trance like a soulless puppet recalling these thoughts. Soon, we had to head out and find the remaining pieces of the Shadow Orb ASAP. But those previous thoughts would never leave my head, and so it stuck with me for the day. Before that, I noticed Meta was on edge, tinkering with a strange device latched onto his arm.

"Yo Meta, what's that you got there?" I asked him. Meta cut short of a response, but he answered anyway.

"It's something that I had for quite a while," He answered. "Actually, Susie gave this to me beforehand."

"Oh, her? You're still mad about how she turned you into a robot and stuff, even when we teamed up to investigate Another Dimension along with others? I can understand that, after all, she did invade Popstar with the mechs and everything- that was the worst, I can't deny that. But never mind that now, what does it do?" I asked him.

"It's a communicator, she says. It'll be easy, she says," Meta mockingly explained. He's still not over it. "Apparently, it can hack into any digital and elemental defenses of any kind or something along the lines of that. Right now, it was going off earlier and I was trying to make it stop. Such a bother."

"Oh, that does seem pointless to be honest. It only seems useful on an electric planet, but here there isn't anything like that it could hack, but maybe not the Dark Barrier. Sounds like the execution was mediocre since we don't have a use for- hey, hold on a minute," I cut off my words for a moment. "Didn't you say it can easily bypass any type of defense; does that include dark energy too?"

"Yeah, at least that's what she said, what about it?" Meta demanded.

"Let me take a look at it, will ya?" I asked.

He nods and removes it from his arm and hands it over to me. With a skim through inspection, it appears to be linked for now with the Halberd. All sorts of statuses appeared on the screen, a flood of them. "I see, so my suspicions are confirmed. I was hoping it would be like that; the twist Kirby was talking about was in fact in here all along. Remember how the Halberd was stolen by one of the Zero Knights Coral?"

"Yeah, don't give me reminders of that," Meta frowned. At this time, Kirby overheard our conversation and joined in along with Kazela, in which they were still wearing the clothes from yesterday.

"Hey guys, you figured out something yet?" He asked. "I heard something about a big twist that I mentioned before. Care to explain?"

"Oh, that? I meant to say that Meta has a hacking device given to him by Susie earlier that can easily bypass any type of defense, digital and elemental, even dark energy. And so that gave me the theory of our main situation, specifically the reason why we're on this adventure," I summarized. "Once the Halberd was stolen by Coral, the note she left behind states that it was done in order to replace their own. Doesn't that shed some light on solutions?"

"No, not really," Kirby sweatdropped. I face-palmed myself. "But if it's about that, it may be connected to the strong dark distortion Kailo told us about before that prevents them from seeing Kaila and Adeline again. Does that help?"

I gave a thumbs up to him. "Damn right! Basically, my point is Meta got the ultimate plot device at his disposal right now, and it's this! If they intend on merging with the Halberd instead, they'll have to take everything on their old one to do that! Maybe we should try breaking through the defenses of the Halberd and see what happens from there. We could find out something about their plans, who knows?" This aroused the interests of all three of them.

"Holy Nova, why didn't I think of that?! That's a great idea, Dedede!" Kirby beamed. "Maybe we can find a way to get the Halberd back as well! I knew them stealing the Halberd was gonna be their biggest mistake ever!"

"I know, right? But that's also a double-edged sword to us ironically," I cracked the mood.

"Huh? What do you mean, Dedede?" Kazela asked.

"Honestly, this just came up in my head, but I realized this alone won't be enough. Even if we did manage to hack through, it won't actually do anything yet, especially when we still have two captives awaiting their rescue. Unfortunately, there's no doubt our adversaries had already kept them in unbreakable chains, maybe literally. It's a risky gamble to try and attempt this now, so we'll just have to wait for the right time to do so. We need to consider other possibilities before we tackle this head-on... but I guess it's worth a shot to get a scan of it before anything else," I speculated. "Sorry about that."

"I guess that makes sense in that way," Kirby sighed. "More importantly, for now, we have to search for the orb pieces today. Hopefully, the amount is less than usual; we need more time to also look in about the incidents in Cherryna too. I'm still anxious about the possibility of Nightmare being revived again; still, that doesn't explain why Monovoida would go that far than Nightmare did. I wonder… what does he gain from this exactly?"

"Despair. That's what," Monokitsune chimed in and jump scared us all. "Good morning, everyone! Get ready to greet another beautiful day!"

"God dang it, give us a warning the next time you decide to pull a Freddy on us!" I growled. Monokitsune shrugged as he managed to gulp down green tea with that face of his. That's weird.

"My bad. So you're wondering why he wants despair, right? I should know as I'm one of his children, duh. To answer that, after yesterday's event, now everyone's terrified out of their minds. This planet had just recovered from the Zetsubō no Chisei and now a new situation's popped out of nowhere. And Monovoida feeds off despair from humans, and so does every Monozodia, but not all of them were, or used to do that," He says. "Oh yeah, it means Arc of Despair's Reign in English."

He continues on. "Yeah, I was like that in the past, and I'd rather not say until further notice. But at the time, that's when I ran into Yae, who was cursed as a fox after Crystal Chaos a year. She was nine years old and she was mourning over the deaths of a legion of kitsunes near Void Capital's territory; it must've reminded her of what had yearly occurred then and because she was also half-fox in blood permanently. When Yae saw me, she thought I was part of the deceased foxes that had survived and she immediately grabbed and held onto me tightly that I couldn't breathe. I don't exactly remember how, but I knew that moment is what ultimately changed me. From that day forward, I decided to train her as a ninja fox and a princess when she explained everything that happened to her. It does sound a bit rushed, but there are some parts of it that are just too personal for me to say, so I'll leave it at that until Yae can get over it."

"That must be tough on her and probably everyone else: Merina suffered 8 years of amnesia, Callie is going through a train of emotions, Adena grew up on land without her parents, Dinah lost her body, and now Yae is grieving for slaughtered foxes she may have considered to be her little friends. Man, this is too much, and it's all because of Dark Matter," I sighed.

"Ain't that the truth? Still, there's no way to change the past but just move on to a better future of hope. Speaking of which, soon the entire planet's gonna be forced to relive the Zetsubō no chisei if that guy isn't stopped soon. But for now, I have to ask you something: I managed to locate one of the orb pieces, and it's at Bloomarixa Academy where Yae goes to school. Apparently, yesterday before you guys came here, there's a student whose heart was literally stolen and went into a coma and soon more victims were ensured afterward. Now the school's been taken over by old beings called Shadows, a manifestation of a person's other side, and whoever's commanding them got a shadow orb piece. You wouldn't mind investigating the school, would you?" He requested.

"Sure, sounds simple enough," I accepted without a second thought. "I don't think it should take too much time, right? That said, where's the academy?"

"It's not too far from here, or rather I'll have Yae take you there herself if she's feeling up to it," Monokitsune answers. "As for the others, I'll assume a few of them went to Blossom Way for the other orb piece by now. You should get going then. I'll keep an eye on the others for you, don't worry."

"That bites," Kazela grumbles.

"Actually, Kazela-hime, there was something I'd planned originally for Yae, but it might be better if you take it in her stead, how about that?" He offered. Kazela said nothing but nodded. "Then it's settled. Get back here as soon as possible so we can locate the chambers and leave the rest in our raid. Oh yeah, try not to die."

"Don't have to tell us twice," Meta Knight replied as he got up and grabbed his sword. After that, he tossed the communicator over to Monokitsune and said, "See what you can find on this while you're at it too."

"Of course I will! I'll get something eventually," Monokitsune chuckled and then shifted his mood. "Now beat it and get that orb piece before I decide to punish you!" Unfortunately, we had to comply, and a few minutes later, we were out of the dojo where Yae was waiting for us.

"About time, you guys," She speaks. "Everyone else went to Blossom Way for the other orb piece earlier ago. I just hope they don't run into any Demon Beasts on the way there. But never mind that, are you ready to head out?"

"Yes, yes we are," Meta Knight answered.

"Alright then, let's go!" With that, Yae takes the lead in guiding us to the academy she goes to. The sun was bright this time, and the streets were busy as always. It was soon afterward cherry petals start to pour like raindrops, and some got in my hair. Well, it was a little while, but we had arrived there.

Academy Grounds Entrance (Beautiful Days- Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc)

"This is it- Bloomarixa Academy," Yae introduced to us, showing the scene of your everyday school building. However, it was missing the lively feeling that it once had and that's because it was closed down while maintaining that look. The gate was crossed with tape so that no one could enter as it was a crime scene; well, there were a few policemen around the gate.

"Great, now I'm getting the feeling that a murder had occurred here," Kirby shuddered. "This is the first time I've been in an actual school before, not counting that fake one then."

"Come on, guys," Yae urged us; she walked over and hacked through the wall of tapes and turned them into shreds. "The more we stall, the more she suffers… let's get going." Leaving us to ponder that last statement, we shrewdly followed behind her into the school that lurks a dark secret… soon, I felt reality breaking up into fantasy at the snap of a finger that can destroy half the universe…

Level Two: Shadow Bloomarixa Academy (Beautiful Lie- Danganronpa V3)

I soon found myself in what revealed to be a labyrinth than a school anymore. The interior and layout of it were somewhat dark and eerie like it was blood colored black instead of red… maybe pink. Despite that, I can tell it gives off this kind of vibes as it ripples through the chills in my skin. However, it remains still bright.

"And my suspicions are confirmed," Kirby stated again. "I knew something was off; look, even the soundtrack changed to Beautiful Lie the moment we got here! I didn't think it was that deadly here." Yae marched straight towards the bulletin board and yanks off an announcement page and hands it to us.

What Yae handed us was the school's article about the many incidents that occurred, ranging from mental shutdowns to student victims and one talked about a student who committed suicide but survived.

"What the hell… is this for real? All of this happened at this academy? I… this… unbelievable… how?" I shook and gasped. The fox princess nods in response and didn't face us then.

"…Yeah, it's hard to believe it at first, but that's the hard reality everyone student faced, and no one will ever see it coming. I should've seen it, but I never did. Yesterday, one of my schoolmates was found unconscious on the roof, and upon investigation, they found out her heart was missing- literally from her body, and she was in a coma shockingly from something like that. I wanted to do something, but after yesterday, I couldn't bring myself to do so." She shakes her head restlessly as she laments over her loss.

"I know whoever did this is here somewhere, just laughing like this was a joke… and I'm gonna make them pay." A bloodthirsty vibe emitted from her like a geyser, much more like an assassin than a ninja.

"Hey, don't get too cocky," I piped up. "Avenging your schoolmate is understandable, but if you're thinking about dirtying your hands in the process, then things won't go well for you! We'll deal with this once we actually find who did this, so just calm down-"

"Never tell a woman to calm down," Yae refuted, now furious. "Now if we're done talking here, then move your sorry asses and get to it!" She now storms off to the left pathway of the academy.

"I guess we'll follow her and see where this is going for now," Meta Knight sighed.

Yae took the lead again and walked through the school's hallways in her ninja outfit, her sandals now replaced with high heels- that's unusual. We trekked forward for a while until she stops and opens a door to a classroom that was desolate and empty but filled with the smell of… blood? Seeing further, all I saw was the classroom was in ruin, as if a bloodbath genocide had taken place. The floors were punched through, desks were scattered about, chalk lines traced a group of bodies gone, and then there was the smell of expired pink blood that made the room rot.

"What…?" I could only mutter. "Am I tripping or what?"

The stage didn't seem to falter Yae when she walked forward and sniffed the dried-up blood on the floor. Her fox ears and her bushy tail popped up suddenly; she arose from sniffing the blood and glanced around the area. Eventually, her nose leads her into sniffing out the cabinets nearby and she snatched whatever was in it. It was a Master Key; strange to be there out of all places.

"Found the Master Key. We'll have every access to all rooms with ease, and that means we'll have to search the school top to bottom from here on out, since we can't afford to break school property," Yae explains. "For now, we'll start with the cafeteria."

"Ah, I see," I said. "But wouldn't it be much more proficient if we search the areas that stand out the most? How about the Headmaster's Office instead?" A roar echoes from outside the classroom, ear-ringing, and piercing as well.

"It looks like we don't have to," Yae grunted. "Let's follow it and see where it leads to!" We rushed out of the classroom in order to pinpoint the location of the scream. Yae's fox ears came in handy as to do that particular job.

"Oh damn, you're right! It is coming from the Headmaster's Office? Just how did you guess that?"

"I dunno, it seems more reasonable to check a place like that," I replied. "The office shouldn't be too far from here, correct?"

The run continues there for a while and soon we had arrived at a door that stands out as a bit fancier than any other schools, but an academy would make sense though. With the Master Key, Yae unlocks the door and opened it wide to step inside there, and we followed suit. However, the distortion I felt before struck again the moment we did.

Headmaster's Office

Something felt off. I knew something was. I just didn't know what it would be though as we entered further into the office that looks like a royal medieval kind back then, but I didn't expect it to be that entirely massive than my own throne room! And that's one thing I find suspicious here. The other is how there were no monsters crawling about as Monokitsune claims there was.

"Hey guys, is it me or did you feel something once we got in here?" I asked. "And why is the office unusually larger than it should be? Wait, who's that over there?" I pointed to the blackened figure sitting behind the desk with the chair facing the opposite direction.

At that moment, the chair spun around, revealing a purple-haired girl wearing a cloak and grinned menacingly. So cliché. The light outside the window turned dark purple immediately, a strange aura emitted from this girl, but it was indeed powerful and stronger- it was on the same level as the Zero Knights. Wait. Don't tell me…

"Welcome to my crib," She said in a deep voice, which really creeped me out honestly. "I had anticipated your arrival soon enough, especially you, Shadow Princess Yae. Obviously, I know what you're mainly here for." She reverts back to her original voice.

"And just how did you know about this?" Yae demanded.

"Just a hunch, I suppose," She replies. "Of course not. You'd be surprised what you can find on the internet, toots! Just kidding! I knew from the start. After all, it is under Master's orders; as per usual, I was supposed to arouse a crisis, but it turns out someone else took care of that beforehand, not that I'm worried or anything. Or maybe it's because I don't care at all, regardless of why I'm still even here."

"You're one of the Zero Knights, aren't you?" Kirby concluded. "Another knightess, huh?"

"What does it look like? My name's Eclipse, and I'm a boy for your information," He refuted. "I just so happen to look and sound like a girl, that's all. And not another word about it, but who gives a crap anyway? Let's just skip to the part where I tell you about your current situation."

"What are you talking about?" I asked. "You sound like you know a lot more than you're letting on right now, even though you haven't spoken yet; your tone just defines it that way to me."

"Because it's true. For now, I'd like to say to Yae about her friend's condition," He explains, facing towards Yae. "If you think I'm responsible for this, then my answer's no. If you wish to get revenge on the one who stole her heart, I think she could use a beating. The one behind you all. Unfortunately for you three Star Warriors, I can guarantee you're not gonna like who was forced to commit the crime."

"HUH?!" Immediately we turned around to find what appears to be a girl who looks so oddly familiar. Her long chalk-white hair, the visible, rosy blush marks, a green headband rests on her head, and on top on that, I noticed she was wearing a school uniform. A plain white shirt and a usual skirt, but unusually around her waist was a green sash that was tied like a bow to act like a belt, something no female would do unless it's a custom of some sort, but that wasn't the case. More importantly, her eyes rub me off the wrong way; no, it's not just that, but I can't help but feel like I've seen her before. It seems Yae recognizes her too, maybe not entirely at the moment though.

"Hey, she does look familiar… where have I seen her- oh, you're the girl who sits in the back seat of the classroom, right?" Yae guessed. "What are you doing here?"

The girl says nothing. "Come on, at least answer me!"

"Wait, why does she look so familiar? I'm getting some serious Déjà vu here," I asked the others. "She reminds me of that other girl who nearly tried to kill us all for a sword or whatever." The girl smirks and steps forward, making us step back a bit.

"Okay, this is not funny! What's your big deal here?" She then answers...

By raising a weapon at us she pulled from nowhere- what seems to resemble an all in one kind: a machine gun, a rocket launcher, a knife blade, a flamethrower, a grappling hook, who knows? However, it all made sense as to what Eclipse meant by the fact that the three of us aren't gonna like who it was because it was someone we knew, but this… I did not see this coming. I think mainly both Meta Knight and Kirby got caught off-guard because of this. Nonetheless, I'm sure you may recognize her by that weapon described. The one who was said to have stolen someone's heart was…

"Oh my god, it's… uh, who was she again? Uh, Sakuya?" Kirby exclaimed, killing the mood.

"No, you idiot! That's Sirica!" I finally pointed out. "Remember? She's the one who tried to kill Meta Knight for Galaxia assuming that he left her mother to die by Kurisakin a long time ago! How the hell can you not remember that, damn it?!"

"I was just messing with you; of course I figured out it was her! I mean, who else do you know that has an all-in-one weapon other than Sirica? But why worry about that when we should be questioning?" Kirby refuted. "There's no doubt about it she's possessed, but this aura seems completely different from Dark Matter's aura. But what is she even doing at a school in the first place?"

"So let me get this straight: She's a Star Warrior, and you know her?! But that would mean…" Yae was in disbelief.

"In a nutshell, yes," Meta Knight answers. "The questions can wait- she's going to strike!"

At this, the girl assumed to be Sirica grins wickedly as reality suddenly warps instantly without warning, or as though we're being warped somewhere; my head started hurting in the process as it gets stronger. And before I knew it, we ended up in some sort of different reality. An arena that appears from the very pits of hell, red and black replaced the sky, the dark thunder that crackles nonstop, and now we're pitted against one of the most persistent Star Warriors known, possessed by the darkness. Eclipse just floated around.

"Everyone, this is Sirica's corrupted reality you're in, known as the Void Realm; that was a particular headache you felt once you walked in here. Maybe her nightmare's a better way to put it. Nonetheless, this is what caused her to suddenly snap as she is taken over by her Shadow and steal other's hearts for the sake of it. It's kinda farfetched; anyway, you see that core over there? Your classmate's heart is held captive in there along with many others that she and the rest of the people like her have captured. If you want the easy way out, then destroy it. Otherwise, don't back down like sissies and fight. Be wary, though: anyone possessed by the Void Realm will gain tremendous powers of darkness," Eclipse warned us. "Why am I telling you this if it's against my orders? Free her, and I'll explain what I can so far. Try not to die."

"Let's not push it any further until we're out of this mess, okay?" Kirby suggested, turning into Sword Kirby. I nodded and pulled out my Hammer and readied myself for combat. The possessed Sirica smirks once again and soon the fight was on.

Dark Personification- 23rd Boss Battle

Party VS Sirica Void (I Will Face Myself- Persona 4)

Boss Description: There was this story about how Meta Knight got Galaxia; unfortunately, someone was affected by it, and that was Sirica, or rather, her mother Garlude, who perished when the Demon Beast Kurisakin attacked her in order to give Meta Knight the blade. That's how it goes; her daughter thought Meta abandoned her mother and sought revenge against him, and now here we are, facing against the persistent hothead, or her shadow, I suppose. There's a lot that doesn't make sense now, but back to the matter at hand, you're in the Void Realm and she'll be a challenging opponent. Be careful!

Shadow Sirica appears! Destroy the core and keep her busy!

Sirica shifts her weapon into auto-fire and shoots ricocheting bullets as her first attack to us. The bullets pierced through a nearby rock and grind it into dust in mere seconds flat. That was just her basic attack; she hasn't even gone all out yet. "Come on, are we just gonna be sitting ducks or are we gonna fight?!" I declared.

"That said, if what Eclipse said is true, then it wouldn't hurt to try and destroy the core," Kirby added. "The rest will hold her down while the other strikes it."

"Works for me," I shrugged. "Let's go!"

Sirica grins and shifts her weapon to her blade and then she rushes at any one of us. The plan was to have three of us keep her busy while the remaining person attempts to break the core in that confusion. It doesn't matter who as long as someone gets to it. And that was me. Sirica lashes out on all three of them, not noticing that I wasn't there to attack her.

With that, I dashed at the core that almost resembles the heart's outer shell of Void Termina and swung at it. The shell cracked instantly upon the first swing, and I kept at it in the meantime. It wasn't long before Sirica noticed this and falls back from the other three.

"Dedede, look out!" Yae shouted. Sirica then fires a missile at me, but I quickly deflect it aside with my hammer and it exploded. Kirby then manages to get a strike in on her while she was distracted; she backdash and aimed for me. I quickly resume breaking the core as fast as I could.

At one point, I land a heavy blow on the core and soon it shattered, releasing what appears to be people's hearts as they vanish completely. However, it wasn't the end of this battle. The Shadow was still standing.

"What? I thought it'd be over once the heart was destroyed!" I pointed out. "How come her Shadow didn't disappear or something? And why isn't she speaking?"

"I don't know, but she's not done yet!" Meta Knight said. Sirica then emits a deadly aura, signaling a change in her battle pattern.

Phase Two Activated!

The deadly aura sticks to her and pulsates around the area. We all jump back and prepare for her next attack, but what she does next beguiles us. She shifts her weapon into a gun or a revolver, but she doesn't aim it at us. Instead, she raises and points at the temple of her head as if she's committing suicide right in front of us! And before anyone could do a thing, she pulls the trigger. The gunshot fired.

But she was still standing. No blood spiked out of her head; it was like glass, rather, that we witnessed breaking. A red aura rises up as it forms into a solid spirit that looked like a demon beast. I couldn't make out what it was, but it soon made its move. It shot rays of needles from the void sky and we barely dodged them.

"What the heck just happened?! How did she do that?! What is that?!" I shouted. "That just came out of nowhere; she shot herself in the head and she's still standing, not to mention she summoned whatever the hell that thing's supposed to be! We barely survived with our lives!"

"This must be the effect of the Void Realm," Yae mentioned. "I didn't think the effects would be that disastrous. Either way, I can tell there's plenty more where that came from; this is bad. We have to take her down quickly!"

Sirica then rushes and attacks mainly at Meta Knight, who parried her attacks with ease and kept up at it. She leaps back from attacking him and did the same thing again, summoning the same monster to perform a different attack, a hail of gungnir spears. Kirby and Yae double-teamed her and got a strike on her, making Sirica jump back again and shifts into her flamethrower, then unleashed black fire.

We all dodged the fire that scorched half the realm in flames. She skid and backflips while shooting bullets everywhere; we scattered around to dodge them. Sirica then shoots herself in the head, summoning that thing again, and now it unleashes volley bombs all over the place. The impact was enough to knock us off the ground like ragdolls and we were on the floor as the last one directly struck us.

I can tell she doesn't have much energy left in her, but her willpower is so endurable that she's fighting us in desperation, thus making her a formidable opponent. I know for sure that we need to land one powerful strike on her and soon we'll be out of this realm. But if she keeps summoning those things, it's most likely she'll kill us all.

That's why I decided to take one for the team and end it. I grabbed my hammer and came charging at her with full force. Sirica then prepares to counter when I swung at her, blow by blow, keeping up with my pace of attacking and dodging every swing I threw at her. She then thrusts her blade right at my face, leaving a slash mark and a leak of blood to spill. It didn't faze me at all. Sirica acted all cocky that way until she ended up tripping over a rock, making her lose her streak of attacks, her balance, and forward. And that's when I took that unfortunate moment to attack.

"This ends now!" I shouted; I stomp my foot, stood back, and swung at her with all my might. And that's what happened. Shadow Sirica was socked in the stomach, and the force was strong enough to hurl her across the area and straight into the ground. She was somehow standing, but she wasn't standing for long as she fainted and fell to the floor, dropping her weapon.

"Damn, that was rough," I sighed. "Hope I didn't overdo it there."

Shadow Sirica's heart has been freed! Victory!

You gained 923 experience points! You're now Level 25!

Health has extended to 800! All stats have increased!

You got the Void Key! You can now enter the Void Realm!

Next Level in 986 experience points.

"You guys okay there?" I ran to help them up. "That was really rough facing her Shadow."

The others nodded that they were fine as Eclipse appeared from wherever he was. Reality started to blur and warp, and before I knew it, we were back in the Headmaster's Office as if nothing happened. Sirica seems to be back to normal as well.

"Huh. I did not see that coming. Still, you managed to take care of her cognitive shadow, well done," He said. "Soon, all of the stolen hearts in her part of the realm will return to their original owners, including your friend, princess. It'll take a few hours for her to recover, but all's well that ends well, am I right? Oh, and your ally will be unconscious for the next few hours or so; longer for those manipulated by the void."

"Oh, thank goodness," Yae sighs. "But still, what's going on here? How did she steal the hearts of others, and why?"

"Remember? You were just in the Void Realm, a parallel plane in which it reflects the true desires of someone in the most distorted way possible. Here, you'll see one's true intentions and how they really view the world and others in secret when they don't show it in the real world. It comes in many shapes and forms, and it's connected to the life of the real person as well. There's a lot to explain, but that's how it is," Eclipse replied.

"So Sirica was just another victim then?" Meta asked.

"Apparently so," He stares at her unconscious body. "Oh, and if you're wondering about what happened at her second phase, it was the effects of the Void Realm as well. She summoned her inner demons that she has yet to conquer, and that's what attacked you, just by shooting herself in the head. A strange summon, but it seems she learned how to do that somehow. Either way, that's just the beginning of the situation. The worst that has yet to come is the Void Hour, where the Void Capital will unleash a widespread massacre on this entire planet using the Void Realm, which is how the incidents were created, specifically the murders and heart stealing."

"Are you serious?! Those murders were caused in that realm?! That means-!" Yae gasped.

"You better take down Monovoida if you wish to avoid that fate; he's the one to blame for this," Eclipse finished. "The Hour of the Void draws ever near than you think; that day will come like a thief in the night, and you won't ever see it coming. I'll let you in on something: even if you break the barrier, you'll still be denied access, so if you wish to break in, you're gonna have to enter through the Void Realm and break in the capital that way."

"Wait a minute," I cut in. "Why are you telling us this in the first place? Isn't that against your orders to do so? It almost sounds like you want to help us."

"Huh. You know, that was the same kind of question I was asked earlier before by two girls on the ship. To be honest, I have doubts about myself and everyone else, and I just want answers to my questions. I don't expect you to believe me anyway, but it's the truth," Eclipse answers. He turns around and sighs. "That's why… for your sake, I'm telling you this. I know you're stressed out about the princess and your friend as well, which is why I can say that you don't have to worry about trying to save them when you have too much on your hands."

"What do you mean by that?" Kirby asked.

"Just let nature take its course, and your main problem will be resolved before you know it, that's all," Eclipse grinned. "You'll see soon enough. Right now, I suggest you focus on your current task; remember you have until the Void Hour to stop him. One more thing: if you encounter any of my siblings, don't mention any of this to any one of them. And for that, here's something for all your troubles. This is what you wanted in the first place- consider it your lucky day." He tosses something at me and I caught it, and it turned out to be another piece of the Shadow Orb.

You got the second piece of the Shadow Orb! One more to go! Trial Complete!

"Oh, um, thanks?" I replied.

"Don't mention it, and here's something for pinky here as well," He also throws to him a new copy ability.

Kirby got a new copy ability, Nine-Tails! This ability allows you to be a mystic fox deity that can attack with its sharp tails as well as unleashing Chakra blasts and more! Now added to your ability collection and is now accessible! 2/12 abilities collected.

"Thanks, I guess?" Kirby replies.

"You're also welcome. Now if you'll excuse me, I must be going. And if you're still worried about the princess, no need for that, because all you have to do is let the natural events unfold and wait for the results yourself. I've done all I can for them just by setting the path. Just remember to go to the Void Realm once you break the barrier. One more thing: if you wanna solve the mystery of this adventure, then I'll ask you this: Everyone has something in common in terms of its history. You may think you know everyone, but you know nothing in reality about each other. What is it about someone that you really don't know at all but yet everyone has that in common? Just give it some thought; solving the adventure's mystery is the key to understanding the truth behind it all. With that, I'll see ya later!" Eclipse finishes, and with that, he instantly vanishes from the school.

"He certainly is strange, wouldn't you say?" Meta spoke. "That said, I can tell he meant every word of what he said, and if that's true, it certainly means something for us." That was strange for him to suddenly open up like that.

"I'm sure we'll find out what he meant by that soon enough," Kirby shrugged. "Let's get Sirica out of here, shall we?" He picked up the unconscious Sirica and Yae got her weapon for her. We soon exited the school that returned back to normal.

Level Two Complete!

At that time back at the dojo, we ended up explaining the entire situation to Monokitsune and what we've learned so far. Sirica was resting at a nearby bed then, sleeping soundly. Yae had gone off to visit her classmate in the hospital. Monokitsune speculates on the matter.

"The Void Realm, huh? I should've known something wasn't right about the murders; so it was all in connection with that place all along. Maybe the barrier itself wasn't the problem, it must be the barrier in the Void Realm instead! Looks like we'll have to come up with another plan once everyone else gets back," He speculated. "As for her, she'll be fine. Just give her some time to recover."

"Now we have to wait on the others and find the hidden chamber in the capital before anything else. I hope they're doing okay," Kirby sighed. "I would fly over to them, but I can't find my Warpstar anywhere. Maybe it flew off on its own or something… I'm not sure. But I'm positive it did detect something, so I'm sure it'll be back." Oh yeah, Kirby did mention that earlier morning at breakfast.

"They'll be fine, I'm sure of it. But mainly, it's the fact that the only entrance in the capital is the Void Realm. I wonder… is that how Monovoida manages his crimes, from the murders to the kidnappings, and now stealing other people's hearts as well as possessing and turning them into Shadows? We need to take care of that as quickly as we can. In the meantime, just sit tight and relax for now."

"I find that hard to do," Meta Knight groaned. "I've still got anxiety issues." Gee, I can't imagine why. But I can't blame him either, ironically. Then, my attention was directed towards the news with a new flash.

"Today, there was a tragic incident. A guy ordered a meatball pizza with barbecue drizzle on it, but in actuality, it turned out to be chicken instead, and he's allergic to chicken; thus, he's at the hospital, but he's fine. In other news, the incident at Blossom Way has already been resolved by a bunch of teenagers that are acquainted with the Fox Princess Yae, as they have taken down a Demon Beast terrorizing the area for some time. Along with that, the crime at Bloomarixa Academy has also been resolved by the Fox Princess too and some of her friends as well. However, the incident as a whole has yet to cease, as we are approaching the Void Hour when the Void Capital makes their move. No one knows when, but who cares about that shit?! It's time for Wacky Mondays!" The news reporter said, then jumped on the stand and started dancing, shaking his butt in front of the camera to the song.

"I love Wacky Mondays," said Monokitsune as he was also dancing to the song called Eat my Butthole. Weird, right? "Care to join me, everyone?" We glared in disgust and sweatdropped.

"Pass," Meta refused.

"But it's not even Monday," Kazela replied, who had just come from the other door. "Oh well. At least I did something productive today; learned how to wield a sword and stuff. So, Kirby, you know this girl?"

"Yeah, she's also a Star Warrior as well," Kirby replies. "It was during the time when she came and attacked us, mostly Meta Knight because she had a grudge against him for stealing Galaxia and thought he abandoned her mother at the hands of the Demon Beast Kurisakin for dead. It was then Dedede decided to order that same Demon Beast to try and stop her this time, and we took it down. And she helped us with invading Nightmare's Fortress at the final push, along with other remaining surviving warriors in the Galaxy Soldier Army."

"If that's the case, then why is she here anyway?" Kazela asked. "I thought Star Warriors don't go to school."

"That's what I wanna know," Kirby sweatdropped. "I've never gone to school before other than the ones that Dedede tried to kill me with those times. And now I'm terrified if the kind of things I've heard every student had to go through every day were true." Kirby shot a nasty look at me while saying that. I didn't think he'd actually remembered that, to be honest. I thought he was brainless as ever back then.

"Stop bringing that up already, damn it!" I growled.

"But regardless, if Sirica's here, then maybe there's a chance Knuckle Joe might be around too. We should probably do so later on," I suggested. "So Monokitsune, did you find anything in that hacking device?"

"Oh, that thing? Not really," He answered. "Just like you said before, that thing alone won't be enough. Other than that, I did manage to at least do something with it, lowering the defenses temporarily as a first test. But it'll only work if something unexpected were to happen, like, I don't know- the prisoners end up escaping on their own? Not like that's happening anytime soon."

"Bummer. So all we can do is wait," I sighed. "And here I was hoping there'd be a change in all of this. Maybe not now, but probably when we least expect it to come. Let's just hope that happens soon."

"Most importantly, I'm more intrigued about the Void Realm," Meta raised the question. "It is our only ticket inside the capital, but what does that have in connection to the actual capital?"

"Just think of it as Another Dimension," Monokitsune explained. "However, the difference is that it's a blend of reality as well, but twisted depending on one's desires; simply put, it's the corruptible essence that exists in someone, whether they realize it or not. Monovoida must've used that to his advantage to pull off his stunts, and no doubt he would have a world in the Void Realm to his liking. That's also the reason why no one could get near the capital, even before the barrier was put up. Apparently, since the realm is linked with reality, whatever happens to one side will affect the other. And it's extremely dangerous as well. That's why we're going to the Void Realm and raid the capital that way. And it transforms certain places into something else entirely. That's why the motto of that realm is this:"

"The Void Realm is the means by which all of what you couldn't see before is revealed…"

Entering the Void Realm

As explained, the Void Realm is a parallel plane in which people's desires are revealed as corruptible and wicked. It links between that plane and the real world as so it becomes one, so anything that happens on one side will affect the other. That includes people as well, just by killing their cognitive shadows. In your case, you'll have to reach the capital that way. You'll be able to unlock places in the capital you weren't able to reach before as you pass through there. Just remember: the conditions of the real world will affect the enemies in the realm. Enter anytime just by using the Void Key. Have fun!

"In short, since you have the Void Key, we can freely move between those planes anytime. Your actions there will affect the real world in more ways than one, so be careful on the way there. But let's wait until they get back first, then we'll make our move," Monokitsune finished.

"This blows," I sighed, sitting down. "But it's not like we have any other choice, you know. By the way, how did you know about that Dimension anyways?"

"Don't look down on me! I know everything that goes on around me and everything that you did just by sniffing you; for example, I know about what you boys did yesterday night in the springs," He sneers. "Can't be helped anyway, it's rather cliché."

"What?!"

"And after that, one of the girls used the bathroom several times yesterday, and boy did that make quite a stench in here! Bet you can't guess who!" He snickers. I already guessed who. "Nonetheless, I'd rather not sniff it out of people unless necessary so I can get a clear understanding of the situation. But I think it's more fun to troll you like so. The one thing I didn't know about was the fact that a Zero Knight informed you lot of the Void Realm."

"Yeah, he also said that we didn't have to worry about the princess and said to let nature take its course. What did he mean by that?" Kirby questioned. "It was like he's expecting something to happen, almost as if it was because he did something. That's why he also said for us not to say anything about it to the other knights. Could it be…?"

"Who knows? We haven't confirmed anything in that sense yet that he's telling the truth, but perhaps his words have a much deeper meaning than it sounds now," Meta suggested.

"I wonder what that could be," I sighed, leaving my head in the clouds of my thoughts. This is just a lot to process for me. Maybe I'm just tired, but could Eclipse be serious about what he said? Did he do something out of line to say that to us?

Could it be that he defied his own allies for our sake, as he claimed before? Nothing left to do but to wait and see…

"All right, now if you'll excuse me, I have a date with a treasure chest that was sent to me by someone I don't know while you suckers were out," Monokitsune chuckles. "Do me a favor and check on that device; I may have done a test run on it to see if it works, and it does. Mess around with it a bit and see what happens." With that, he ran off to get the package and tossed it over to me.

"Eh, whatever. I'm gonna use the can for a bit," Kirby said as he grabbed a magazine from the table and took it with him to the bathroom. Suspicious, I tell you.

"I'll be going as well," Meta added too. "I'm gonna borrow the training grounds for a bit." With that, he left too. So it was just me and Kazela as of right now. I narrowed my attention to the device then.

The device was active, showing current statuses of the Halberd now. All of the defenses, for now, are down with ease, so it clearly wasn't a fib. I thought of it as nothing… that is until it displayed a warning message out of nowhere, which really startled me.

"Alert! Alert! Commencing purge of the Halberd! All systems are overridden and transforming! Identity Invaders confirmed as Dark Matter; three captives detected. Activating Fatal Success- set to activate after morph completion... Complete! Prepare to override enemy aura! Press Go to commence automatic override sequence!"

"Wait, does that mean Dark Matter is fusing with the Halberd now?!" Kazela shouted. "Do something already!"

"Okay, okay! Let's try it out!" I pressed the Go button immediately, and it activated with a sign of approval. I thought this might change everything, or at least do something… I hope it's enough…

"Engaging Fatal Success… Get ready… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… GO!"

Meanwhile…

"Eclipse! We're doing the purge as of right now! You may wanna wait a while before you step foot there. As of now, everything's good so far. How are things on your end? I'm kinda worried about you, you've been easily distracted lately," said Coral.

"No, that's you, Coral. Besides, I always look like I don't care anyway, so that's hardly an issue to be scolding me for," I replied. "To be honest, I don't see why we have to do all of that convoluted stuff when Zero could've just wished for his desires to become reality. All of the other stuff would've been a nice touch in my opinion. But seriously, what the heck was he thinking then? Apart from that, something tells me things might swing unexpectedly, just saying."

"Yeah right," Coral grunts. "And after you're done with your mission, we're gonna have another cosplay party, and I was thinking of having both the princess and the paintress join us this time! I can't wait to have some fun! Arigato!" She hung up completely. I grinned.

"Not today, sister. Too bad it all ends here today," I smirked. "Victory is near; it's all up to the captives to pull through for everyone. You'll never see it coming; it's your last surprise- enjoy… heh-heh…" I spotted a flying star zoom by the area in the sky at that moment. "Ah, here comes the cavalry!"

On the ship…?

"The hour draws near… I'd never thought today would be the day that I would escape this rotten hole… I hope those two are aware of the purge…"

Kailaine's POV: Last Surprise

Oh hey! You're back again! I wasn't expecting you to come back that soon. From the looks of it, I'm pretty sure it's for a good reason, and you came at the right time. Today was the day that changed the rest of the story, in more ways than one, actually. I never expected it to happen so soon.

A little while before, we were at our same prison ball inside the main room as usual. It was somewhat early morning into noon, and earlier we took a bath and ate temporarily. It's not like they'll allow us to stay anywhere else. Later on, we basically had nothing else to do but the usual. I prepared myself for the usual, except for the fact that it wasn't the usual. I had a feeling things were going to be different this time.

"Hey Kaila, something feels off today, don't you think so too?" Adeline asked me. "Those two aren't here this time around. You think something's come up for them?"

"Who knows? It's been weeks since we're stuck here and I still haven't figured out how they do things," I shook my head. "Perhaps they have much bigger personalities than we thought they did. But you're right, though. It does seem like everyone's gathering for something earlier before."

"Man, when's the purge coming? I had thought of it to be yesterday, but maybe it was put on hold then. Either way, I can't wait to get out of here soon. We made everyone worry so much as to them breaking themselves for our sake; I don't want that anymore. It's about time this cliché meet its end already, regardless of its popularity," Adeline sighs. "I swear, no overlord could go a day without staging someone hostage."

"You think they could come up with a better plan than that old fashioned cliché, but it can't be helped, I guess," I shrugged. "Anyway, if nothing's happening, then we should probably check on Niva before anything-" Suddenly, the intercom rang in a sense of emergency.

"What the heck?!"

"Attention, pimps, pounces, perverts, and prisoners, I guess. We are now ready to commence the fusion at once, as we have acquired a vessel suitable of our needs. Remember to keep your sanity as the fusion is underway, and the layout will be different afterward; no shit, Sherlock. Even so, everything will be in check immediately, so nothing to worry about... probably. Screw this, let's get it on! Get ready before the fusion calls, you got 5 seconds… 4… 3… 2… 1-1-1-1-1… GO!" Suddenly, everything started to wobble and shake like an earthquake. Sparks of lightning crackle everywhere in the process.

"Morphing in progress… 40% complete. Merging with the vessel…"

"They're doing the fusion now?! That means-!" Adeline shouted. The distortion was getting stronger.

"It's time," I declared. "We need to get to Niva immediately!" Without a moment's hesitation, we instantly broke out of our prison ball and head straight for the engine room where Niva was at.

The Core of Warship Dark Matter

As soon as we have arrived, no one was around again, so that made the walk easier. At the heart, Niva reformed from her nucleus form and into her human form, but she was still stuck in the barrier. "You made it, guys! I was worried you'd forget!"

"Why would we?" Adeline sweatdropped.

"Never mind that," Niva said. "We're in the middle of the purge! We don't have much time to waste! Just as he said, we better run for it once the morph is complete! I can feel my old body slowly disappearing in the process."

"So you won't be a Nova anymore?" I asked.

"Temporarily speaking, yes. If we put an end to this, the effects will reverse, and everyone that was affected by the curse will turn back to normal, so yeah," Niva explained. "I still have my powers, so I shouldn't be a hindrance. I wish I had a weapon, though."

"Figures, which is why I got you this," Adeline said, pulling out a rod with a golden orb on top and suited to her liking. "Thought this would suit you."

"Aw, that's so sweet of you! Thanks!" The Nova blushes. "How did you know I wanted a rod?"

"I didn't, just a lucky guess," Adeline shrugs. "But you're welcome."

"Morphing in progress… 95% complete… Battleship Halberd in check… All systems online."

"The Halberd?! So our suspicions are confirmed then! They really did make off with his battleship!" I grunted. "We'll need to get his ship back later once we get out of here first! But none of us knows our way inside out! Looks like we're going blind on this one!"

"Apparently so," Adeline sighed. "But it's not like we have any other choice left! All we can do is pray and hope that things don't go wrong from here. We should join with the others when we can afterward."

"Get ready, girls," Niva warned us. "Here it comes!" Everything around us started to bend like distorted reality, and dark bolts crackled and intensified even further; the scenery around us started to warp and change into another scene. Niva was also affected, for she was surrounded with a ton of dark lightning bolts. It got even worse in a matter of mere seconds- and then, it was said to be over. This is it. A ball of light soon flashed before our eyes…

"Morphing in progress… 99%... All systems and more are in check! The fusion ends in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… GO! Fusion complete!"

My eyes gingerly opened, and I found myself in a different engine room; it was copper and somewhat dim. The floor was grated with small openings, and I spotted several stairways and paths ahead. Adeline was still standing after that, and Niva appears to be finally out of her core prison.

"Hey, I'm actually out! It worked!" She beamed and ran to us, hugging us as well. "I can't thank you two enough for this!"

"Well, we try," Adeline replies. "Oh, and here's your weapon, Niva." She hands the rod to her, and she beams in delight.

Niva joins your party! Received Oracle Rod!

As for that, I noticed that the core was now replaced with a rhombus-shaped crystal that flashes in all colors.

"So, that's the core, huh? It won't be long before it's tainted with dark energy," I commented. "And apparently we have a long way to go if we wanna get out of here without getting stuck. If only we had some sort of map…" The control panel nearby starts flashing wildly, and upon a closer look, it lured us to it. "That's new. What's it doing?" A ray flashes and waves it from top to bottom on us before confirming something.

"Engaging scan… three innocent lifeforms identified. Status- prisoners. Activating Access Override. Now overriding all terminal systems online… complete- all accessibility is under the server's control, location in Cherryna Capital. Server's desire- assist the prisoners in escape from Dark Matter; automatic setting on. All previous effects of the original vessel are canceled; species of prisoner identified as Nova. Species of prisoner identified as Human Paintress. Species of the main target identified as temporarily human- original identity cannot be confirmed for now. Combat capability confirmed in all three. Scan complete. Activating Fatal Success: PreviewMode-EXE… Please wait for instructions…"

"I'm not following what's going on here at all," I sweatdropped. Soon, the panel reacts again. This time, it spoke in a feminine voice to us.

"Success. Orders- free prisoners from the hands of Dark Matter at all costs. Greetings, prisoners. It is by the will of the owner of the Halberd, Meta Knight, and my duty by his command to provide assistance to you; refer to me as Susanna. You're now in the engine room of the Halberd as of which you were in previously. And because they've merged with it, the immense aura of dark energy has greatly increased. My task is to make sure that all innocent captives are out safely. I will guide you around the Halberd and increase your chances of escaping."

"That sounds really helpful, don't you think?" Niva perked up her ears.

"Dark Matter has not gained full control over the Halberd after the fusion, and the server activated this program at that time, thus I have automatic control over the battleship. Fatal Success is a hidden and rare program that easily hacks into all sorts of advanced technology to anyone's advantage, not to mention it also has a genocide potential to it if used in combat. However, due to the overwhelming distortion of dark energy that's never been experienced before, this program is temporary and consumes too much power. I have a limit in this, so my complete control over the Halberd will subdue."

"How much?"

"I can do this for about half an hour, to be exact. In that allotted time, I will unlock every obstacle that stands before you with ease. My sensors indicate a 50/50 chance of your escape to around perhaps 99% successful should nothing interfere. During this, some parts of the Halberd will go haywire, so caution is extremely advised. There's a lot to inform you of, but my main task of guiding you is my top priority. Right now, this is just the preview program as to inform you. Fatal Success will truly activate once you are ready. If you successfully escape, then the chains of darkness will break from you instantly."

Niva turned to us after this. "Listen, girls. This is our last chance to escape the grasp of Dark Matter for good! We've come so far to back down now! Are you ready to finally change the fate of this predicament for everyone out there?"

"Do you really need to tell us that?" I answered. So did Adeline. "We've already decided to do this from the start! I'm tired of being the reason why everyone is suffering, I'm done with being the helpless princess, I don't want Kirby to break himself because of us- I'm sick of it all! This is finally our chance to put an end to this once and for all." Adeline nodded too.

Niva smiled. "Just checking, and your motivation speaks for itself." She turns to the program. "Okay, we're ready, Susanna."

"Understood. I will activate the program once you're in position. The nearest exit of the engine room is nearby; prepare for the escape. Your destination is the outside deck. Are you ready?"

Are You Ready? You will not be able to come back here after this!

A) Yeah, I've Been Ready!

B) Hold On, Just give me a moment!

Answer: A) I've Been Ready!

"Yeah, we're ready," We replied.

"Captives ready to escape. Now activating True Fatal Success… Get Ready… You have 30 minutes to escape the Halberd. Failure will result in permanent captivity. Fatal Success is online. Proceed with caution."

This is finally it. Our days of being the damsel in distress are over at last. A chance was given to us, and it's not going to waste this time. I just hope nothing goes wrong; perhaps for something to save us when we're cornered. That was my wish.

"Let's go, everyone!"

Level Three: Final Escape (Taking Over the Halberd- Kirby Super Star)

You have 30 minutes to escape the Halberd at once! The map will be displayed shortly onscreen. Expect encounters along the way as well! Your destination is the outside deck! Fail to escape or fall in battle, and you lose a life! Lose them all, and expect it to be game over! You'll start at the last Star Point you saved at, adding a few extra minutes as well. With that, good luck!

"30 minutes on the clock! Fatal Success begins in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… GO!" Alarms blared instantly upon the command, and everything was flashing red around us.

"There's the door! Let's go, girls!" I declared. We immediately dashed from the core and took the first staircase made of metal grates to traverse through the maze. For me, it was hard to run in heels, but I somehow managed quickly. It may have taken a minute or so, but we were almost there.

"Eh?! Look out!" Niva warned us. "The core's suddenly attacking!"

Looking behind me, the core was hinting it was tainted with darkness, and it shot dark energy blasts wildly everywhere. One took out a beam from above, and as it fell, it took the pathway with it, causing a major gap in the path.

"Guys! Jump!" She shouted and made the first gigantic long jump across, reaching the other side with ease. Doing the same, we also took that leap of faith, and we also made it across miraculously somehow.

"We made it!" Adeline exhaled. "Come on, let's keep going!" We opened the door and left the engine room.

28 minutes remaining! First Checkpoint reached! East Corridor Run.

So far, so good. It was soon then that we rushed out of the engine room and went straight towards the corridor, running like there was no tomorrow. There was no sign of any other members of Dark Matter… yet. Eventually, we still had a long way to go.

What's the deal here? It's the fact that the Halberd is massive, and for anyone who has never been in here can get easily lost in the labyrinth of the ship. Well, it's a good thing Meta Knight doesn't have anything too dangerous around, otherwise, we'd be screwed. He doesn't have anything like that, does he?

Anyway, we skid to the right at one point in the corridor, and we kept on running somehow nonstop. A voice echoes in our heads; that must be Susanna, guiding us with directions on the most effective route of escape. It must've been when she scanned us. I think we're doing great on time so far; hopefully, there shouldn't be any kind of problem to occur. I thought that as we were nearing the elevator shaft and it took us to the next floor up.

23 minutes remaining! The Second Checkpoint reached! Patrolling Halls.

After taking the elevator, it came to a stop and opened its doors. We stepped outside to catch our breaths. "It's crazy; I don't see a single member of Dark Matter, even the Zero Knights. You think something happened during the morph?" Adeline gasped between breaths.

"Can't say we know, but you're right about it being strange," Niva answered. "Not even a trace of a single enemy was around. Could this be an effect of Fatal Success somehow?"

"Probably so; as much as I'd like to think about it, we don't have much time to waste," I huffed. "Susanna said the exit out of this area is nearby. Let's keep moving. We're just lucky nothing actually interfered with this."

"Proceed with caution. The dark energy released small chimeras upon hack. Nothing major… yet," She replies. "You should be able to reach it around 3-4 minutes if done quickly. Near the exit, I have managed to secure something for you."

"Alright, looks like the first wave has awakened," I confirmed. "Let's go!"

At that, we ran again to encounter small chimeras that are incomplete, so they were nothing to us but there were a lot of them, like an incoming zombie wave. Niva found some kind of rail rider and got on it; we followed suit. Turns out it was much easier to plow through the hordes of them easier, and as she operated the rider, we held off any ambushing chimera that dares to attack us.

We plowed through within a two-minute time frame; that was much faster than I anticipated. We're near the exit already. A ball of light appeared instantly and into my hands; it looked like a weird trophy with a strange symbol on it. I think it could be useful somehow. It looked like an eye. Meh.

You got the Psyche ability, an enhanced version of ESP! Perhaps this could be useful… 3/12 abilities collected!

"Eh, waste or not, let's keep going," I ordered. The doors flew wide open by Susanna; still, on the volley rail, Niva drove forward and further inside.

20 minutes remaining! The Third Checkpoint reached! Safe Room.

We arrived in what appears to be just a normal recreation room. Nothing out of the ordinary there; we got off the rider and went to investigate the room.

"This is a Safe Room. For now, you're free of enemy detection. However, there's a strong presence up ahead, so be cautious when you leave the room. You're halfway and almost there." Susanna explains. "Up ahead is the Arsenal Ascent, but it's massive at the same time. Luckily, it all leads to your destination."

"Thanks for that," Adeline replies. "Only 20 minutes left so far. I think we can make it!"

There was that old feeling of determination and hope, something that I've never felt in a long time, regardless of how I acted. It's so close yet very far, but why would I want to give up when the finish line is so close? I can feel it…

"Everyone, let's go!" Niva nodded. Before that, there was a weird aura that flashed before me. I couldn't make any sense of it; it was like an RPG or something. I felt my energy regenerate in seconds before I knew it; perhaps the other girls felt it too.

Would you like to save your progress? Yes.

Now Saving… Save Complete! Showing results…

Current Status:

World 5, Level 5-3: Warship Dark Halberd.

Currently Level 25. Next level in 923 experience points.

Party Members: Kaila, Adeline, Niva.

Time Remaining: 20 minutes.

Current Location: Safe Room to Arsenal Ascent.

Now Exiting…

I shrugged it off and went to catch up with Adeline and Niva as we pass through the doors and into what appears to be a horizontal escalator that zipped and took us straight to the next area.

20 minutes remaining! Final Checkpoint reached! Arsenal Ascent.

After that, we found ourselves in what I would consider the most massive and grand arsenal hub of all time. I can see that this would be one of the reasons why they'd want his battleship. There's no way we'll be able to make around in just 20 minutes and counting down. Strange how I don't see doors anywhere; we were standing straight in the middle of it all.

"Man, this is insanely huge! How are we gonna get around it that fast?!"

"Hey, there's a vehicle lift over there," Niva points to a giant elevator that was upon a floor of grate stairways. "And luckily, it takes us directly to the outside deck! We'll be there in no time!"

Immediately, we ran to check out the elevator lift and went up the stairs for the elevator. It was almost too good to be true as we managed to get on and with the lift taking us to the outside deck, and at a rapid pace too.

"Yeah, we're home free at this rate!"

"Your destination is near," Susanna stated the obvious. "Proceed with great caution once outside."

"Finally!" I cheered. "Let's get out of here, guys!" The light above us was getting brighter and brighter until we couldn't see through it anymore…

15 minutes remaining! You have reached your destination! Outside Deck. Mission Complete?

Before we knew it, we found ourselves outside of the Halberd, on its massive deck. Outside, I realized it was flying above what appears to be a city or something. It feels so good to breathe fresh air again; we're out of that cramped hole for good.

"Freedom's never tasted this good before," I exhaled in relief. "Looks like the escape was a success, girls!"

"Yeah, all we need now is a way down; wait," Niva gasped. "We haven't thought of that, haven't we?" Damn, didn't think this one through… again! I haven't even thought of a way down if it was floating! Stupid me. Now what? Well, at least it couldn't get worse from here, right?

"We'll figure out something," I shrugged. "But let's keep moving until we find a way down!"

Unfortunately, I knew it was too good to be true. Susanna had picked up a threat coming our way!

"Warning! Incoming defense robot sent at your location! Prepare for combat!" Susanna warns us.

"What?!"

"Behind you!" Just then, something gold and metallic was shot from the same elevator lift that we went on to get here and landed right in front of us; the land was so hard that the wind underneath it knocked us back a little. The robot then morphs into a beast version of what looks like… a lobster? It had emerald eyes with silver outlines and two large pincers with emeralds on them that could easily chop someone in half. Its feet were like boards, and it looks like it had wheels under them. There were also silver head wings, which looked like a weapon to me; its back had also the fin of a crab or a shrimp. I think the tail is the engine for this thing. The whole body was golden too. It was menacingly strong.

"What the heck is that?!" I shouted. "A metallic lobster robot?!"

"And it doesn't look friendly either," Niva growled. "We need to take it down before it gets in our way of escaping in 15 minutes to spare!"

"Let's do it!" Adeline got herself ready to fight it, and so did Niva. Looks like we don't have any other choice but to fight. The mecha lobster had its eyes set on us before it roars and attacks.

Return of the Metallic Seafood Robot- 24th Boss Battle

Kaila, Adeline, and Niva VS Heavy Lobster 2.0 (Ultra Heavy Lobster Remix- DjtheSdotcom)

Boss Description: The metallic lobster from Super Star returns once again! The Heavies are a type of robot species that are golden and have extremely advanced weaponry than the average kind. Heavy Lobster is one of them; it was sent to stop Kirby during the events of Revenge of Meta Knight and once during the Nightmare's Fortress invasion. This robot is extremely powerful and underestimating it will be your biggest regrets yet, and I mean it literally. Surely you can stop it from getting in your way.

Heavy Lobster strikes again! You have 15 minutes left! Hurry and take it down!

"Here it comes!" The robot starts to make its way for us as it shifts into vehicle mode and soars straight at us; we barely evaded that. It took a sharp turn around and charges again. At that, it reverted back into its lobster form and began its first attack- shockwaves from when it jumped up and down wildly.

We jumped to avoid the shockwaves that ravaged the deck. I went for my first attack, shooting platinum lasers at it. It wasn't affected at all. "What?! My attack did nothing to it! What's going on here?!"

"Robot identified as Heavy Lobster," Susanna explains. "One of the Halberd's strongest defense mechs and notable, to say the least, that Kirby fought against. Regular attacks won't deal any damage to it at all; a laser will only bounce off of it. Heavy Lobster is incredibly durable and attack patterns are somewhat unpredictable and deadly accurate due to the technology built in its eyes. My sensors indicate only one weakness: strong splotches will damage it, making it immune to any attack once useless against it. Do that, and it'll be defeated. In the meantime, use an attack much more proficient in destruction."

"Thanks for that," I shouted. Heavy Lobster then started to fire missiles from its mouth. I countered with a crystal bomb and hurled it towards the missiles, which caused them to explode and strike Heavy Lobster. There were a few dents in the shell, so it must be working. "Guys! Use something destructive against the robot!"

"Trust me, I've got this," Niva smirked, preparing her attack with an arte incantation. "Sol Blitz!"

A horde of energy spheres of light appeared at her command and they were shot at Heavy Lobster in a sea of fiery explosions. Upon the smoke clearing, Heavy Lobster had more than just one dent- it was multiple of them. Now we were getting somewhere.

The robot got serious. Its claws were pulsing red energy from the insides, then thrust flames at us. We all dodged to the side, witnessing the floor scorched in flames. I kept shooting more Crystal Bombs until I reached my limit; I forgot that move drains my energy and I faint every time I excel it. Heavy Lobster was still standing.

"Adeline, don't just stand there! Do something!" Niva ordered her, but she was in the middle of doing whatever it is she's doing. I think she's preparing something for this, but she may need some time for it. Heavy Lobster then prepares to attack by charging a laser from its mouth that had opened. Niva shot another one of her attacks into its mouth, and it exploded on contact, perhaps damaging its insides.

"It's working! If we keep this up, we'll be done in no time!" I smirked. Heavy Lobster's eyes immediately turned red and stomped wildly in rage.

Phase Two Activated! 10 minutes remaining!

Heavy Lobster began to back up a little and jumps back in the air and high. It landed behind the main cannon unexpectedly and it became active already. "What?! It just activated a cannon on its own!" I shouted. "Oh boy, I see trouble up ahead."

"Enemy has engaged with the Combo Cannon. Weaknesses are unknown; however, take down Heavy Lobster with its weakness. Combo Cannon's accuracy of attack combined with Heavy Lobster is 100%. Complete danger ahead!" Susanna warns us.

"Oh crap, this isn't good!" Niva gasped. "We're screwed if it consumes too much of our time!"

The Combo Cannon then rotates itself and fired a giant cannonball at us at full speed; we were completely caught and blown back on the deck. A huge arm from the cannon then volleys some bombs everywhere, and we tried to avoid the bombs; Niva ended up grabbing one and throws it at the cannon after igniting it with fire.

Heavy Lobster activated the lower cannon, and as soon as it popped out charging a blue blast, we ended up ducking as it shot mercilessly and missed us, but it may have struck somewhere else. Seeing this, I could feel my soul almost wanting to leave my body for dead, but I can't do that yet.

"This isn't good, this isn't good at all," Niva said as she struggled to get up. "We should've been more cautious as to what kind of artillery this ship has! I didn't know Meta Knight crafted something this deadly before! We need to take it down with its weakness, but how are we going to find splotches around here in time?"

"Splotches… isn't that another term for paint?" I questioned. "If that's the case, then… does that mean Adeline was…?"

"Stand aside, girls!" Adeline shouted, holding what appears to be a bucket of paint loaded in a bazooka?! Is that was she's been doing the entire time, making this weapon?! She got into her firing position, loaded the bazooka, and took aim at the Combo Cannon starting charging its laser too and fired early before Adeline. She didn't falter; she pulled the trigger at the moment the blast was that close to us.

"Rainbow Blaster!"

Instantly, it pierced through the cannon's laser with ease, dispelling it at once, and it struck straight through the Combo Cannon as well as Heavy Lobster in one shot. The cannon was inoperable, and Heavy Lobster was hurled into the air and on the deck. Its body turned red and so was its eyes too. It shrieked wildly.

"Heavy Lobster is now blind! The accuracy of attacks is 0%; it is immune to all attacks! Now's your chance for an all-out attack!" Susanna ordered.

All-Out Attacks

You can now perform All-Out Attacks! Once the enemy or all enemies are knocked down, you will have the choice whether to grind them into dust or relent and strategize before the enemy gets back up again. Either way, it's really powerful, so use it to increase your chances of winning!

"Sounds like a plan! Let's get it!" I shouted.

With that, all three of us came rushing in at Heavy Lobster and attacking from all angles like a cliché dust ball beatdown. Eventually, before we knew it, it was over- after we shot explosive attacks for the final blow. The robot soon fell apart one by one until it exploded and rested in pieces, its parts landing all over the deck and smoke lifting from it as well. Silence blew.

"Heavy Lobster is defeated! Congratulations, prisoners!" Susanna said.

"Yeah! We did it!" We cheered. "We won!"

Heavy Lobster is now seafood! Victory! (Perfect Victory- Grandia 1 HD)

You are now Level 26! Next level in 985 experience points.

Niva learned Espernova! Kaila learned Comet Hell! Adeline learned Soul Stroke!

Item Retrieval: Heavy Emeralds (Forgeable).

Mission Complete!

"Finally! That thing is down for the count! How are we doing on time?" I asked, as we approached the head of the Halberd and glanced around us.

"5 minutes remain. Should be enough time to find a way down to the city where your heroes are located at," Susanna states.

"Yes! We're so close to freedom, I can just taste it- literally!" Niva meowed. "Can someone pat my head, please?"

"Sure, once we really escape here," Adeline answers. "And boy, that's a long way down, apparently. Do you think Meta Knight has some kind of escape pod or something? If so, we could use one right now."

"Anything will do! Let's go!" Niva urged us.

"Stop right there, busties… and one flat chest!" A familiar voice echoes out from the command deck. It was Coral. "Where do you think you three are going? Surely you are aware that there is nowhere else for you to go- literally; we're dozens of feet above ground right now. Anyway, surrender peacefully and we'll return you to your cells, or else."

"Or what? You're gonna put two feet on our faces?" I shouted.

"Probably… but never mind that. We have the Halberd surrounded! Escape is futile!" Suddenly, a line of members of Dark Matter appear out of nowhere but the darkness, surrounding every part of the ship. What's worse, the Combo Cannon was suddenly operable again, and this time, it aimed right at us!

"Damn it! It was an ambush all along!" Niva growled. "So they knew?!"

"Of course! We knew that you would try to break out once we changed ships, so all we did was just conceal ourselves until you three got here. Genius, am I right? Anyway, I have no idea how you managed to bypass all of the Halberd's security and defenses, even when the core was filled with dark energy, and I'll admit, whatever you did was indeed compelling. You three had a good run, but now, the charades and games end here. Surrender now, or we'll be forced to destroy that rebellious spirit within you with just a single finger snap and have a taste of the Combo Cannon here and take you in unconscious!" Coral shifted her tone in the last sentence. "What's it gonna be, Princess, Paintress, and Nova? Your cooperation? Or your doom?"

"1 minute remains… scanning for other possibilities of escape at the moment…" Susanna said.

No… we were so close… and yet, we lost in the end! I bet neither Eclipse saw this one coming! We were now cornered to the edge of the ship, which is so cliché, stuck with limited options to choose from. A minute remains, and now we're gonna be stuck here forever on this tale! I feel devoid of hope now, and despair was lying in wait for us.

"It can't be… was everything that we did was all for nothing?" Adeline groaned. "It was all… worthless? No…"

"Damn right it is," Coral cackled, aiming the cannon at us and with the soldiers coming closer. "Now then, it's game over for you three! Any last words before it's gonna be back to the stony lonesome in just a matter of seconds- permanently?"

"It would take a miracle of any kind right now to get out of this mess," Niva sighed. "And there's no way it could happen in just a minute, you know? Let's face it, we're-"

"Chances of escape are 100%. An incoming vehicle traveling faster than the speed of light detected and is approaching at your location." Susanna confirms suddenly.

My ears perked up, reacting to the sound of some strange humming faintly from the distance, and the sound was suddenly getting louder and louder to the point where we all heard it.

"Huh? What's that sound?" Niva asked. "It sounds like a large hummingbird or something."

"No way! Up there!" Adeline points upwards, and when we did, a short twinkle flashed from the sky, revealing to be a shooting star that was golden, and it was spiraling towards the deck. Wait a minute- that star looks familiar… where have I seen it before? Before any of us could even react, that same star came straight towards the head of the deck, and immediately, it snatched all three of us at once before the soldiers could even react.

"What just happened?!" Niva asked in shock. "How did we-?!" Could it be?

"This-! No way! It's Kirby's Warpstar!" Adeline cried out. "How did it know we were in danger?!"

"I don't know, but who cares right now?!" I grinned. "We're finally getting out of here!"

"Escape vessel secured! Mission almost completed!" Susanna said. "Now flee from the Halberd immediately before the enemy retaliates!"

"Tch! You're not getting away, princess! Everyone, get them!" Coral yelled. "Fire everything at them!" At will, everyone on the ship instantly activated the guns and other weapons available and unleashed fire at us, not to mention they were also chasing us with the Halberd already.

"Time to blow this Popsicle stand, shall we?" I laughed.

The Warpstar instantly reacted to this and had already begun to evade the attacks and carry us to safety. The gunfire of lasers became almost like bullet hell, but the Warpstar dodged them with ease like it was nothing; it swerved and curved high and low like a fighter jet, making all of their attacks miss every time. It was like the Warpstar was sentient as well; it's trying hard, perhaps to make up for what happened when I got captured. Could it be that it came here on its own free will?

I couldn't say for sure, but it definitely was determined to do that for us as it kept on dodging every attack that the Halberd threw at us. Eventually, I think Coral snapped and she set the Combo Cannon to its most deadly setting yet, and she fired at that moment she had- a giant energy beam of darkness.

The Warpstar, however, wasn't fazed by the laser as it was honing on us, and instead, it retaliated by firing a one-star bullet at the incoming barrel laser. Shockingly, just a single one-star bullet was enough to destroy the beam! The star bullet pierced through the Combo Cannon, completely destroying it for good; it let out a frenzy of lasers everywhere before doing so, also taking out the other weapons with it in the mass of explosions. The soldiers were also wiped out unconscious on the deck, and Coral was seen jumping out from the command deck and onto the main deck.

"Damn it! I swear it's not over yet, princess! You will pay dearly for your rebellion against us, and you'll get back here even if I have to get you all by force, ya hear me?!" Coral screamed in anger. "You only got out because of that stupid Warpstar of that idiot, pink-haired, brainless, low-tier warrior of Smash! This isn't over, flat-chest princess!"

The Warpstar seems agitated by Coral at that moment, because unexpectedly, it shot a sniping star bullet at Coral, and before she could even react, the bullet struck her and exploded, flinging her backward into the wall of the ship and falling into the floor unconscious as well, lying in her own pool of blood! Talk about disrespect! The Halberd stopped in midair, pulsating with technology's veins.

"What was that for, Warpstar?!" I demanded; I just realized that I can't understand it. "That was so uncalled for!"

"It's because Coral insulted its master, Kaila," Niva answers, assuming that she understands stars. "And the fact that it was already annoyed by her even though it was its first time seeing her. I'd have to agree on that, though."

"True, but still, don't you think that was going a bit too far?" I asked.

"Not at all," Both Adeline and Niva replied in unison. "She had it coming and she never saw it coming anyway. And she's just unconscious, by the way; the blood's real, but it ended up being special effects in the end, so that's that." I sweatdropped.

"Objective complete! Congratulations, everyone! You have successfully escaped the Halberd!" Susanna confirms. "Your destination can be reached just by warping over there. With that, have a nice day and enjoy your freedom! Fatal Success shutting down… thank you for your cooperation with HWC!" After those words, I can feel her voice fade away from our heads.

"It's over… isn't it?" I sigh a great relief. "We're finally free; it feels so weird, yet so satisfying at the same time… our wishes have come true, right?"

"Definitely, Kaila," Adeline smiles. "Now we're no longer helpless! I can't wait!"

"Yeah, I wanna meet with your friends and the warriors once we get there!" Niva meowed in delight.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" I cheered. "Let's go see them now! The day has definitely come for us to take back our lives again! Here we go!"

The Warpstar was content with those words and increased its speed while soaring through the clouds and with ease. Its sound kept humming faster and louder every second that went by, and by the time the sound reached a straight static line...

We popped out of the scene we were just in. The rest I have yet to tell what happened. Looks like we managed to change our set fates just in time before it became sealed. So I'm afraid I'll end it here for now, but I bet you're happy as well, aren't you? Ah, I suppose it's time for you to head back to Kirby's side again. But don't tell him what just happened, okay?

I have my reasons for that, at least not yet… Just wait for us a little longer…

Level Three Complete!

Meanwhile…

"Huh. I guess we were overreacting then," I sighed. "Trying to scare us for nothing with that false alarm; it only said Fatal Success is complete. Weird." We both dropped down to the floor and exhaled relief. Kazela seemed like she's seen a ghost.

"Um, Dedede? I've been meaning to ask you," She started to say. "You and Kirby were enemies back then, right? Were you evil as they say you are?" I hesitated at her question a little, but I sighed and decided to answer.

"Er, I wouldn't say that we were mortal enemies," I answered. "More like rivalry then. But, I wouldn't say that I was evil, you know. It was my actions that defined that word more than a mischief maker. Yeah, I guess I was… or was I supposed to be? Maybe…"

Kazela stares at me innocently. "I don't think you are truly evil. Maybe… misunderstood suits you better. After all, I think you had a good motive for your actions back then, but maybe the way you did it hardly proved that at all. And because of that, no one ever saw the good in you that you had, but as long as it was carried through, you didn't care if your name was slandered. Well, that's how I look at it."

I said nothing. She continues on. "I suppose it can be described as wearing a mask to conceal someone's identity; no one knows the real you, so that's why you wear that mask every day, even if you never meant to keep on wearing it. Only until you feel like to remove it. Don't worry, I'm sure people will know the real you one day, and hopefully, things will be patched between you and everybody else." For a 10-year-old princess, that's really… encouraging to me somehow.

"Dedede?! Are you crying?"

"No, that's sweat coming from my eyes," I answered. "Or maybe that's Monokitsune that farted; his fart reminds me of Wario's whenever he eats garlic."

"How rude!" Monokitsune growled suddenly. "How dare you link me to that scoundrel with a fart of gold?! Also, I hate eating raw garlic! Nobody ever tries to eat things raw, it tastes like your own barf!" I couldn't help but laugh, and Kazela joined in too.

"Anyways, thanks for that," I smiled. "You sure do know a lot even though you went missing for quite some time. I wouldn't dare ask how you survived anyways."

"By the way, when is that girl going to wake up?" Kazela points at Sirica specifically. "And where's everyone else? Shouldn't they be back by now? What's holding them up?"

"If I had to guess, I'd bet it all on Karly since she's suffering from Winglenovia's side effects," I guessed. "Or perhaps they've discovered something on the way back here. Maybe I should call them-" Suddenly, the news started to play with something very urgent to tell folks.

"Huh? What now?"

"Sorry folks; hate to interrupt your Wacky Mondays, but we've got some urgent news to tell you! Recently, we've received incoming lasers striking several capitals out of nowhere blindly. Many suspects that the lasers were a warning attack from the Void Capital, but that has yet to be confirmed. Next, on the list, there was a huge battleship spotted elsewhere in the Void Area directing its attacks on a target unidentified. However, it's confirmed that the battleship shown here is, in fact, the Battleship Halberd, as in the one owned by one of the Star Warriors, and the owner isn't in the ship obviously," The guy reported.

"Ha-ha, that isn't good," I groaned. "Neither is the second one. Things couldn't get any worse from here, right?"

"And if you think it couldn't get any worse than that, then you're wrong! The earlier incidents mentioned happened on Blossom Way. The twist here is that the group of people who defeated the Demon Beast there are in an unsettling predicament as they were unfortunately captured-"

"CAPTURED?!" We both yelled out. "NO WAY?!"

"Yes way, they were captured… by the Monozodias of the Void Capital as hostages in an ambush. The only thing left of them is a strange orb piece that one of them dropped and was sent at the Fox Princess' place right away once discovered. Regarding that, a note was sent to this station as an urgent warning. It's quite long, but to summarize it all, it states that the Void Hour will come today at midnight, and that's when the Void Capital will attack Cherryna with an army of Demon Beasts, thus reviving the tragic incident we all know as the Zetsubō no Chisei! We advise you all to stay inside your homes until the event is over! Oh, and the last part of the note asks for the rest of Yae's acquaintances who are not captured to come and rescue them from the Void Capital before the Void Hour! If you're watching this, it's advised that you do so! Other than that, everyone, prepare for the Void Hour at midnight!" That was all they had to say before the channel changed itself.

"Ha ha, we're in danger!" Kazela nervously laughed out of shock.

"Dear God, I don't feel so hot right now," I groaned. Our yelling drew the attention of the others too.

"What's with all the commotion here, cubs?!" Monokitsune growled. "I just got another package with another piece of the Shadow Orb just now, but the others aren't back yet! What's going on?!"

You got the last piece of the Shadow Orb... Trial complete... yeah, this isn't a good time to mention this, but you know what to do, right? Once done, head to the Void Realm immediately!

"It's terrible!" Kazela cried. "Everyone who was at Blossom Way was kidnapped by the Monozodias and are held hostage at the Void Capital right now! What's worse, Cherryna Capital's gonna fall to ashes at the Void Hour, and it's today at midnight!"

"WHAT?!" The fox gasped, dropping the Shadow Orb piece. Meta and Kirby gasped too, more in shock and disbelief. "Impossible! Tonight?! That cunning void beast planned way ahead of us, and now he's reduced our numbers drastically! I did not see this outcome coming!"

"If they're captured, then does that mean he wants something from us?!" Kirby suggested. "They always want something when they pull that cliché!"

"Who knows, but it's clear that we need to do something about it now," Meta answered.

"But we can't do that until we get to the chambers first, and we don't even know where it is in this capital! I don't see any place that resembles one!" I stated. "How are we going to find it in such a large city? It'll take hours to do that!"

"Maybe we don't have to do that," Monokitsune suggested a possible alternative. "There may be a way to find the chambers without having to search the city. Remember the motto of the Void Realm? In other words, it's saying that some places will transform into something else entirely, so in that sense, the reason why we couldn't find the capital is this: it was hidden in this world, but visible in the Void Realm! Hopefully, that should be the case here, and if it's true, then we've killed two birds with one stone!"

"That sounds reasonable enough, but we better hope that theory is true!" Meta agreed. "We can't afford any delays on this one!"

"Yeah, we need to get together as soon as possible… after we figure out what to do with her first," Kirby pointed at Sirica. "Chick's still knocked out cold, and it's a hassle to keep up with that-"

"I'll go," I piped up. "Only one person is needed to take the trial anyway, and with that, I'll take on that final trial myself for you all. That way, you can use that time to get yourselves together until I get back."

Everyone was silent at my offer for a while, but after what seemed to be forever, they complied. "I see. If that's what you want, then I have no objections. Just make sure to get back here once you're done and we can enter the Void Realm together," Kirby responded, handing me the Void Key. "Seems much easier that way; after all, Yae has yet to return, and we still have one girl unconscious still. Best that we have someone take care of that for us."

Speaking of which, Sirica let out a groan, but she was still in that state though. "Looks like cheeky beauty is starting to regain consciousness now. Anyway, we'll take things from here, Dedede. You better get going; remember your training, fool!" Monokitsune said.

"Trust me, I've got this," I said, grabbing my hammer and started to head out for the door. "I'll be back in a little bit, okay?"

"Dedede! You forgot these," Kazela ran up to me to hand over the orb pieces. "Be careful out there." I gave her a thumbs up before leaving the house.

Cherryna Shrine Courtyard

I spent some time walking around the outskirts of the city, trying to find ideal places that may be close to the chambers. The area I was in was now desolate because of the news today; they're frightened out of their minds. I kept pushing forward for any close areas until I ended up at the shrine for some reason.

"Say, isn't this the shrine that was attacked from before?" I thought. "Then again, one of the maidens did have an orb piece with them, so I suppose this should be the closest to a chamber. Now how do I use this key?"

The key flew out of my hand suddenly, and then it latched itself to something invisible, turning itself and soon, the invisible door burst open wildly of black and red colors, making me cover my eyes from it. And before I knew it, I felt that I was in the Void Realm. The shrine in front of me disappeared or rather morphed into a fancier looking palace. It was the Shadow Chamber itself.

"Holy crap! Scared the bejesus out of me!" I gasped. "So it's true, then. Looks like we got our work cut out for us! Let's do this!"

The grand doors automatically opened by itself upon my arrival, and I dashed inside the hollow darkness of the chambers without hesitation.

The doors closed itself after I went in.

Level Four: Chambers of the Moonlight

As usual, the inside is the same as all of the others we've been through before- only with the change in colors to represent the theme. I walked a little bit faster than I usually do until I reached the pedestal that unlocks the door.

The pieces then gather around sentiently to form one complete orb automatically, with the shadow symbol engraved on it. The orb did the same thing and struck me in the chest, granting me a new power.

Dedede learned Hammer Justice! New scroll obtained!

The orb then flew straight into the keyhole of the grand doors, unlocking the tumblers inside to the final trial of Lunadark Star, and the doors opened up wide. I went to a Star Point before I did though.

Would you like to save your progress? Yes.

Now Saving… Save Complete! Showing results...

Current Results:

World 5, Level 5-4: Moonlight Chamber

3/12 abilities collected so far.

Current Level: Level 26. Next level in 985 experience points.

Party: Dedede (Solo)

Current Location: Jewel Chamber- Entrance to the Spirit Arena

Now Exiting…

After that, I rushed straight into the open doors, and from there, it was the point of no return once the doors close.

Jewel Chamber- Spirit Arena: The Gem Soul of the Moonlight

It was really dark like last time; I could see nothing but pure darkness. All I heard was the sound of my own footsteps echoing across the area. In the abyss of darkness, I spotted a jewel floating nearby, a fuchsia colored luna-shaped jewel lies ahead.

I ran straight towards it for the light, but of course, it wouldn't be that easy getting to it as it pops out once I got near it.

"So, you managed to find out where my chambers were hiding all along, huh? Very clever of you," A male voice echoed out.

"Trust me, it wasn't that easy to do so," I replied. "Anyway, I'm in a big rush as of right now."

"Your friends were kidnapped by the Monozodias earlier ago, right? That's why you're here, because they're in a place where you can't get to in the real world, and you need my help to do so. But let me tell you now, you'll experience true hell once you traverse through the realm," The voice explained.

"I know that, but my friends are in danger, and I came here for your help as to let my friends that aren't captured to get ready once we go through there, so I can't back down now!" I declared. "In fact, you know something about Monovoida, right? Well, tell me once we settle this right away!"

"Indeed, let's get this over with and play a little game, shall we? The rules are simple-" The voiced explained, snapping his fingers. A ball of light appeared, emitting its power to clear the darkness around me, and I found myself on an arena that looked like the ones in those martial arts tournaments with the Ying-Yang symbol in the center.

"You lose if your HP reaches 0! Try not to be a noob, okay?" And the opponent turned out to be duos: a sun and a crescent moon with white hands and feet, and mean expressions, but they take the colors of Ying-Yang.

"Two against one?! Now you're talking!" I smirked. "Challenge accepted!"

"Glad to hear it! Prepare to go against the Gem Soul of the Moonlight, Luno!" The spirit cackled.

"Bring it on!" I shouted. This is the only way I can prove myself to everyone, and I'm not letting it go anytime soon! Just wait, everyone. We'll save you, you'll see…

To be continued…

End of Chapter 5 Act 2!

Author's Note Summary:

Bet you didn't see that one coming, did you? Of course not! Anyways, I hoped you liked this chapter, and sorry about the long delay, but after Winter Break, I was stuck with exams and homework and that stuff on the spot, so yeah. Oh well, no matter.

Anyway, I'm gonna be very brief with explanations because I've reached my limit by the time I finished this chapter. Hopefully, you get the references and where I got the ideas from at the academy level earlier, because it's a hassle to explain it all, but to be brief, that was inspired by Danganronpa and Persona, if you've played or seen any of the series, that is. Otherwise, you won't get it at all, so just see the playthrough of the series.

Next is Sirica. Truth is, I've been planning to put her in from the start on this planet, but I haven't figured out the approach then. I thought it would be cool to have her in. And for what she did on her second phase, the same request applies in order to understand her actions. But why is she wearing a uniform in the first place? That has yet to be fully explained.

The major part is the Halberd. This part is the one you've been waiting for all along… probably. Basically, in short, the hacking device activated a hidden program that guided the prisoners throughout the entire ship all the way until they reach the deck, where they fought against Heavy Lobster; I've always wanted Heavy Lobster to return as a boss again one day, and so I decided to pair it up with the Combo Cannon, the most-said deadliest weapon of the Halberd, in its second phase. Of course, in the end, you know what happens, and I'm sure you're crying tears of joy if you're that emotional. But again, I hope you can figure out the small details in there because it's too much for me to explain at once. I won't say any more than that.

Lastly, the unexpected twist. Almost all of the characters at Blossom Way were revealed to be kidnapped by the Monozodias as hostages for the Void Hour to revive Zetsubō no chisei (The Arc of Despair's Reign), the planet's version of their most tragic events ever to occur. What's worse, it's all occurring on Wacky Mondays! Unforgivable! And so, Dedede decides to go solo for the Jewel Chambers to make the job easier for them and faster in order to rescue their friends. Where is this coming from, Dedede?

Well, anyways, that's where the next chapter will pick up next time. Sorry about the rush, but once again, I've reached my limit for now and I'll explain a little more the next chapter maybe, and so, if you don't get something here, just let me know in your reviews or PM me anytime I'm there. You know the drill, everyone. Anyways, I'll leave it at that and I hope to see you next time.

Until then, take care of yourselves! See ya!