The little boy (ah, what did his new friends decide to call him? Gooey?) crept through tall grass surrounding the nearby castle. He couldn't quite remember what his name was, but he knew the king lived here. The foliage was thick, crunchy, and oddly colored. Wasn't it supposed to be brighter than this? Was it dying..? Gooey didn't know enough about this star yet to decide, but either way it made him nervous. Something about this whole scenario just didn't feel right.

Those dark clouds hovering over the castle were too familiar to be from a storm…

Gooey wasn't quite sure what he'd accomplish by sneaking into the king's home, but he wanted to do something. He'd only spent a month or two here, but he'd really come to love everyone in Dreamland, and he hated the idea of it being turned into something like his old home. He felt, as a fellow Matterborn, that it was his responsibility to stop it. So, with that in mind, he snuck ever closer to the edge of the castle walls.

The boy spent a few minutes pacing back and forth in front of the gray stones, trying to figure out the sneakiest way in. He could attempt to shadow walk and slip between the cracks, but he wasn't very good at that… His sibling had tried to teach him once, but ended up saying he wasn't 'attuned enough to the Darkness,' whatever that meant. Hm. Maybe he could fly up and enter from the top? He might be spotted though.

'Oh… c'mon Gooey! Think, think, think! There's gotta be something you can do!'

'There certainly is.'

Gooey spun around, shocked by a familiar 'voice.' But that surprise quickly turned to confusion when he saw a body that didn't match. The… king? What was he doing here? And… why did he look like that? He was wearing what looked like pajamas, and his hair was a disheveled mess, falling all over the place in front of his face. His eyes were just barely open, more like slits in his eyelids than visible eyeballs. Dark liquid dripped all over his face… as if he was also a Dark Matter!

Before Gooey had the chance to run or explain himself, the king's body lunged for him, grabbing him by the throat and lifting him into the air before slamming him against the wall. The man laughed as if he was getting the satisfaction of destroying a particularly loathsome bug.

'You should have listened to me back then! I told you to never stop running, didn't I?'

'Blade! I didn't- I didn't mean to-'

The shape of a sword started forming in the king's free hand. 'It's time to finish what I started.'

'WAIT!' Gooey clawed desperately against the king's skin. 'If you're gonna kill me- please- please! Don't make the king do it! Don't make him a murderer!'

The king's body-Blade-paused, his grip loosening slightly.

'What..?'

With the boy's throat a bit clearer, he opened his mouth to speak instead. "Ple-eease- don't hurt king! King won't- king sad! When wake up!"

'You're not even thinking of begging for your life again?'

"M- messed up… Gooey bad… king good… don't hurt…"

The body's eyes opened ever so slightly wider. After a few unbearably tense seconds, Blade unceremoniously let go of Gooey. Landing roughly, the boy sat there, disoriented. When Blade formed a large cloth of darkness out of nowhere, Gooey didn't have time to react when he was wrapped up in it. Blade then tied the cloth shut, trapping the smaller Matter, and dragged it behind him as he headed back inside the castle.

As he approached the throne room, the impostor king was stopped by a pair of Waddle Dees.

"Oh! Great King, there you are! Um… we were wondering if you've come up with a plan to restore the Rainbow Bridges yet!"

Blade clicked his tongue in irritation. Deliberately not turning to face them, he spoke. "Do you really think my answer has changed at all since you last asked me three hours ago?"

The Dees flinched back at his harsh tone. "Well… we just thought that-"

"How about, instead of wasting your time sitting around uselessly waiting for me to fix your problems, you do something for me?"

"Hm? Oh! Of course, anything!"

Blade let go of the sack. "Dispose of the garbage, if you please."

"Y- yes sir, Great King, sir!" The Dees both saluted him in sync before moving to carry the bag elsewhere. They struggled against the weight and the fact that the sack seemed to be wriggling. But they were too nervous to question why. "Where- oof! Where would you l- like us to put it?"

"...I don't care what you do with it, I suppose. Just take it as far away from here as possible. And make sure it doesn't come back." Maybe if they hid it well enough, the boy wouldn't be totally destroyed once Zero eventually arrived. But he wouldn't burden himself with that task.

"Yes sir!" With that, the two Dees began dragging the body bag towards the back exit of the castle. Blade supposed there hadn't been any point in bringing it inside, but he didn't even know what he wanted to do with it initially. Ah, oh well.

'Great King, huh..?' Blade looked inside himself, observing the delirious form of his captive. Occasionally the man would jerk awake upon hearing familiar voices, but the Matterborn made sure it never lasted long. It seemed that didn't happen this time, but he still couldn't help but stare at this pathetic creature they called a king. But only for a moment, then he pulled back into reality.

'They really do admire you. They listen to everything you say. They… love you.' He tapped his fingers together, a shattered, yet satisfied smile carving its way across his stolen face. 'Great King. I could get used to that…' But his smile quickly fell. 'What a shame this world will soon be destroyed… I… would have liked to be loved.'

A treacherous thought entered the back of his head… He… he could simply not report back to Zero. Maybe if he went long enough without contacting his master, he'd think it a failure or a waste of time, and not come in for reinforcement. And then he could continue on like this, as the new ruler, with all these people listening to him. Loving him.

That might be nice, but it wasn't what he was here to do. Blade shook away those dangerous ideas, and walked deeper into the throne room. He had to plan his next few moves a bit more carefully.

Kirby started their day off just like always, greeting the beautiful morning air that flowed in through their window. They sat up, rubbed the sleep and crust out of their eyes, and let forth an enormous yawn, opening their mouth so wide that you could see their molars. They smacked their mouth a bit, staving off the gross taste. Haah. What a perfect breeze!

Actually, it felt a bit colder than normal. They hadn't left the window open THAT wide, had they? Popping their neck back and forth first, they turned to hop out of bed.

Oh, THAT was why! Their door was wide open! Actually, it didn't look like the door was on right at all. More like someone threw it off the hinges. Ah- and there was the doorknob on the ground! Right next to that Dark Matter Swordguy. Gooey was sitting down on the floor too, instead of sleeping in- WAITJUSTAHECKINSECOND-

Kirby sucked in a massive gasp, preparing to scream at the top of their lungs about how weird this entire situation was. But before they could reach the swear part of their WTH, Gooey leaped forward, slamming his hands over their mouth.

"Shhhh! No wake!"

Kirby wildly flailed their arms as they groaned incomprehensible syllables into Gooey's oversized sleeves. They gestured back and forth between themself, Gooey, and the still-sleeping Dark Matter on their bedroom floor. It took approximately 90 seconds for them to finally wear out and give up on yelling. A low whine escaped them as Gooey slowly pulled his arms away.

"Good?"

Kirby sucked in another gasp and Gooey moved to cover their mouth again, but then they deflated, too worn out to waste their screams anymore. They nodded that, yes, they were good now.

Gooey softly clapped his hands together. "Yay!"

"Gooey…"

"Mhm?"

"Gooey..!"

"Yeeeees?"

"Why?"

"Why?"

"WHY is there a Dark Matter sleepying on my floor?" They squinted, taking a closer look at his unconscious form. "And why is it the sword guy?"

"Um… came in last night… Hmmm…" the smaller Matterborn tapped his sleeve to his head, trying to formulate his words. "Hurting… help. Cuz… Gooey good boy. Gooey help."

Kirby sighed and petted their roommate's head. "Yeah, you're a good boy." Their gaze drifted back and forth between the two Matters. "...He didn't hurt you, did he? No stabby? No evil guy threats?"

Gooey shook his head no. "Mm-mm. Hurt too much. No good moving." An eerie smile crept across his face for half a second. "Can't do nothing at all." But the smile grew innocent again and he stuck out his tongue. "No hurt!"

"That's… that's good! I guess. Um… but… what are we s'posed to do now?"

"Hm?" Gooey tilted his head to the side.

"We're not gonna… uh… murderize him, right? You don't want that, I'm pretty sure. But we can't just keep him around, can we?"

"Can we…" Gooey echoed, his face screwed up in thought.

"I mean…" Kirby's voice lowered and they scooted a bit closer to the boy. "Dad's… dad's been having a really really really really not good time lately… and, uh… I don't think seeing him around is gonna help… cuz, y'know. The whole…" they made a weird gesture, their hand mimicking a soaring motion before crashing into their other hand.

"Right. Right…" Gooey slid off the bed and began pacing. "Can't hurt king… can't hurt king… but… can't hurt sibling. Won't do, won't do!" He hit his fists against his head a few times. "UUuuuugh… can't think, can't think!"

"Hey, hey! It's oki, we'll figure something out!" Kirby stood as well and pulled Gooey's arms away from his head. "You're a really smart boi! And I'm also super ultimately smart! With our smartness combined, we'll get it aaaaaall figured out."

"Mkay…"

"Maybe we can hide him in my house for a while? In a while. That way we can keep him, 'n no one has t' know! Dad won't get upset and Tata won't kill him dead. It's a win win win!"

"Mr. Knight kill sibling?!"

"I mean, probably. I don' think he's very happy ever since dad tried to- uh… anyway! Can you help me fix my door please? I don' want anyone stealing my stuff!"

Gooey nodded and, after Kirby changed out of their pajamas, the two children began trying to force the door's hinges to work through sheer will alone. After realizing that just trying to hold it shut wasn't going to work, they simply removed the door entirely and plugged it shut with a pile of spare pillows and blankets. They had enough that the tightly packed barricade was more solid than the original wooden door. Kirby grumbled a bit before sucking up a breath and putting on a smile.

"This is fine! I'll- I'll get Rick to fix the door sometime when we're out or something! We can use the windows to get in and out until then."

"Hmmmm. Okay."

It was only then, as if on cue, that the Dark Matter Swordsman began to stir. Kirby's drowsy irritation instantly left them and they instinctively leapt into a fighting pose. Though not as tense as Kirby, Gooey's body did stiffen up a bit. But they weren't planning to fight Blade just yet.

The Matterborn squirmed under the blankets for a moment before groaning and sitting up. His eye blinked slowly as he raised his head. He sucked in a lungful of cool, morning air…

And then realized how wrong that fact was. The eye under his mask widened, glowing a fiery orange. Staring at the blanket beneath him… the pillow behind him… the general fact that he was in someone else's bedroom, on the floor. The fact that he was alive at all..!

The fact that Kirby and Gooey were staring at him in terrified anticipation.

A bizarre mixture of dread, hatred, and embarrassment sank into Blade's metaphorical stomach as memories of last night flooded his mind. Oh, Nova above, he'd practically GROVELED on the ground in front of his little sibling and now he had to live with that fact for the rest of his (likely very short) life. Also he was still UNDER THE BLANKET-

The Matter instantly threw the sheet off him as if it hurt to touch, and shot to his feet. Both his hair and cape floated and twirled in agitation as his eye narrowed. But neither of the children actually moved, either to attack or placate.

Finally, Blade grit his teeth and sent forth his thoughts.

'You shouldn't have let me live. You're going to regret that choice.'

Kirby stared at him with wide, unsettled eyes. But Gooey just smiled blankly. And then… he laughed. And laughed. And laughed.

"Ah- Ehehe- AH- AHAHAHAA- AAAAHHHHHAHAHAHAAAAAA!"

'What are you doing!? Are you LAUGHING at me?'

"Ehehe- EHEHEHE! Asked! Asked to help! And now angry? Silly! F- foolish- ehehe-"

'It's not foolish! YOU were the foolish one for accepting an enemy into your home with nothing more than desperate words as proof of safety!'

"Ehehe- eh- enemy? No- not enemy-"

"Y- yeah!" Kirby finally butted in. "You don't have to be our enemy! Wouldn't that be, like, a lot safer for everyone involved? Cuz if you're our enemy, we're gonna have to kill you again, and I'm pretty sure, 99% zettai, that you don't wanna die!"

'And what makes you so confident about that?' Blade mocked. That seemed to give Kirby pause as the implication of that statement set in. Taking his chance, Blade rushed the kid, slamming them against the wall while using his telekinesis to dangle Gooey in the air, out of the way.

"Hey! Don't hurt Kirby!"

"No no, it's fine Gooey, I'm oki!"

Blade tightened his grip on Kirby's collar. 'Oh, are you, now? You're not defeating me without one of your precious 'magical artifacts,' and I know for a fact you don't have any of those on your person. I could kill you right here, right now.'

"Umm… actually…" Gooey murmured, "probably… can hurt now."

Blade spun around, glaring. 'What are you on about?' It was then that he realized his telekinesis was only holding his sibling a few inches off the ground. Hardly out of the way. 'What… what's going on here?!'

"Uhh… well, cuz gave some parts, solid, so solid too. Um. Hurts real now."

Both Kirby and Blade stared blankly at the boy, clearly not understanding a word he said. Gooey sighed and sent out his thoughts to both of them. 'I think, because I am a much more solid Dark Matter, since I gave you a lot of my Darkness to sustain you, you're pretty solid too. Which means you can probably get hurt by normal stuff, not just magic weapons. So even though we don't have the Rainbow Sword or the Love-Love Stick or whatever, we can still defeat you if we need to.'

Kirby smiled pridefully. "Gosh Gooey! You're so smart!" The boy merely blushed in response. But Blade did not take this nearly as well. He threw Kirby to the ground and floated right up in his younger sibling's face, glaring down at him.

'You helped me KNOWING this would happen, didn't you? Maybe you're not as foolish as I thought, you little snake!'

"Uh- didn't at first! Only thought overnight! Sorry!"

'Liar.'

"Not lying! Just wanted help! Good boy! Gooey good boy!" He indignantly flailed his arms as tears slipped out the corners of his eyes.

Blade's stomach churned at Gooey's little outburst, even though he definitely wasn't worried about hurting the boy's feelings. It was more discomfort than anything. He suddenly realized how emotive and forthcoming with his thoughts he'd been in the past few minutes, and he mentally cringed. Ugh, he'd been so used to being able to say anything without being heard that he'd completely forgotten to flip that mental switch back to how he was before. Before-Blade was so good at hiding his emotions too…

He'd need to play this more carefully. Like how he used to. Turning slightly to face Kirby, he squinted.

Time to buy himself some time to charge an attack. After releasing his telekinesis on Gooey, he began his interrogation.

'You stated that I could choose not to be your enemy. What did you mean by that.'

The child tilted their head. "Uh, didn' I say what I meanta? It would be super safer if-"

'That is not what I meant. What benefit is there to suggesting that option in the first place. Why would you rather I not be your enemy, than simply destroy me.'

"Uh… well, I mean, I don't exactly like killing people?" they said, as if that somehow explained anything. When it became evident the Matter was not understanding, they sighed and continued. "So if I can find a way to make you stop wanting to hurt US without killing you then obviously I'm gonna take it!"

'Hm. Selfishness then. I see, I see.' Just a little longer… 'So you are merely doing this to avoid performing an uncomfortable act, rather than any altruistic goal or sentimentality or potential beneficial alliance. I suppose that makes this much easier.'

"Huh?"

Before either of the two had time to react, Blade shot forth an enormous blast of Dark Energy that would surely vaporize Kirby, or at LEAST knock them out.

At least, he THOUGHT it was an enormous blast. What actually ended up coming out was a rather thin lightning bolt that barely grazed Kirby's hair and left a pithy burn mark on the pillow wall behind them. He stood there, frozen with his hand still in the air as the two kids stared at him.

'What… is… this..?' He finally pulled his translucent arm back to stare at it, as if it had personally wronged him. No, there's no way he was THAT weak. Right?

As if to answer him, a wave of nausea washed over him. Curling in on himself, he nearly collapsed to his knees, only barely managing to hold himself up. Gooey rushed over to support him but he pushed the child away.

He couldn't help the confusion leaking into his tone this time. 'What is WRONG with you? I just tried to kill them!'

"But… didn't."

"Yeha, you kinda failed just now. Even I can't be mad about that!" Kirby giggled.

A low, gurgling grumble escaped him. Kirby flinched a bit at hearing something resembling a voice actually come out of him. He forced himself to stand up straight once more.

'It… seems I am not as recovered as I thought…'

Gooey nodded. "Sorry… tried. But not good. Not enough."

'No. It wasn't enough. But why do you care? Why are you treating me so casually? Have you forgotten what I've done in the past?' Blade had to wonder why he was pressing this issue so much. He should be grateful that they were being so lenient, rather than trying to kill him on sight. If he were smart, he'd take advantage of their naive kindness and then betray them later, like he saw that weird alien mage do. But he just couldn't help himself, could he? No, Zero was right, he wasn't very smart.

Gooey looked at the ground, avoiding Blade's gaze as he spoke. "Don't… wanna have t'hurt you… Already hurt other siblings. Sibling that raised me? Not again…"

The taller Matter tensed up when he mentioned that fact. Narrowing his thoughts, he spoke so only Gooey could hear. 'You know very well that I hardly 'raised' you at all. I was a horrible parent.'

Gooey joined in the private conversation. 'That's not true. You treated me better than anyone else. And you didn't kill me when you could have. Twice. I… I don't know how you came back, but if you are, I feel like it's a sign, you know? That you deserve a second chance? I think you can be really nice, if you want to.'

'I don't know what makes you think that. I returned due to…' No, if he told them what he'd done, then they'd surely change their mind on killing him. '...sheer luck. There was nothing special about my return. There is no deeper explanation. I am back. And I want to…'

Gooey stared at him with his piercing eyes, urging him to continue. Knowing that he couldn't. Because… What did he want to do? Zero was gone, at least the version of Zero he'd been raised by and served. And the 02 that was out there… wouldn't want anything to do with a failure like him. He had bigger, greater plans and had likely moved on to a more easily corruptible galaxy by now. So what did that leave? Taking over Pop Star? He could, if he really wanted to, he supposed. If he planned carefully enough and played his cards right, he could become the next crazed megalomaniac in a long line of them.

But what would that give him? What purpose would taking over Pop Star serve? He couldn't create a Dark Core on his own, nor could he make more Dark Matters to stave off his loneline- to build an army. The only thing being ruler would give him would be subjects that would probably despise him for destroying all they held dear. And he could feed off that fear and hate and become much stronger. But then what? What could he possibly do with that power besides destroy everything? He didn't WANT to destroy everything! Then no one would be left to love h-

He… wasn't supposed to care about that. He wasn't supposed to be averse to the idea of total destruction. He wasn't supposed to feel loneliness. But this planet had infected him a long time ago, and being within the king had ruined him even more. He had long given up the facade that he was an emotionless being, as beautiful and terrible as that concept was. But he also no longer had a place in either world because of that. He'd already caused so much pain and heartache, and acted as the catalyst for at least two planetary invasions. He'd had blood on his hands since he was a child. But he couldn't go back to the Dark Core in this state.

The horrifying realization that he had nowhere to go, that he had no place in this world, sank into him. He was out of place. He didn't belong. He was more alone than he'd ever been before.

He should have stayed with the king. At least then he wouldn't be alone. Or… maybe he should have just accepted defeat way back then. Then he'd be free of these emotions. Of having a heart.

Dark Matter Blade suddenly felt arms wrapping around his torso and he jerked away, phasing his body out of their grip. (Urgh, even that small phase made his head swim a bit.) Ah- Gooey, of course. He must have been worried after he just shut down like that.

"Sibling?"

'What.'

"It's okay… sorry. Upset, didn't Gooey?"

'No. I'm just thinking.'

Kirby moved in, tired of being left out of the discussion. "Well think faster! We're burning day here! I wanna eat bekfast before noon!"

Blade merely rolled his eye. He wasn't terribly interested in letting his child captors know that he was already having second thoughts. Maybe it was spiteful of him, but he didn't want to let them have an 'easy win.' And who knows, maybe he'd come up with an idea for what he wanted to do with his newfound life while he was busy faking along with their little 'good guy' game. He JUST woke up after all. He couldn't say for certain that taking over Pop Star or destroying the world was off the table yet. Maybe this too, would pass. So, like he said, he'd need to move carefully.

Yes, fine. Let them think he was playing along. Let them do as they please. They might even see it coming. It had happened to Kirby before after all. But that didn't mean he wouldn't relish in seeing that annoying rosy-cheeked little face break into tears when something inevitably went wrong.

And as for what Gooey's face might look like… well, maybe he could convince him to go along with whatever plan he came up with. That was probably the best possible scenario.

'Fine.'

Kirby jumped slightly at his sudden statement. "Fine what?"

'You wish for me to cease being your enemy? Fine then. I will give that a shot. I will see where this path leads.'

The two kids stared at Blade, and then at each other with eyes as wide as saucers. Then they pumped their fists in unison.

""YESSSS!"" "We got him!" "We got sibling!"

Blade groaned internally. He was already regretting this.

'Let it be known I am merely doing this because I have nowhere else to go.'

"You dummy! That just means you're in debt now! Don'tcha get it? Now that you've agreed to this, if you ever act evil again, I get to say 'Hey! Did you forget about the time we saved your life?' And then you'll be all 'oh no Kirbo I'm so sowwy' and then we'll all hug and have cake."

Blade did not realize he was dealing with a loan shark. 'Does that usually work.'

"At least 50% of the time! That's like a passing grade, right?"

Gooey nodded in agreement. It's not as if either of them had ever attended a schooling institution before though.

'Well, I highly doubt that will work in the event I do 'turn evil.'"

"That's why I have a backup plan!" Kirby explained as they began folding up the blanket left on the floor. "It's called 'Hey Dark Matter Swordguy! You can't be evil! You love your little brother too much!'"

'That is not my name. And also, that plan will not work. Love is largely irrelevant to me.'

Kirby giggled and loudly whispered into Gooey's ear. "He said largely irrelephant. That means it's partially rellephant!"

Blade was already losing track of the amount of times he'd rolled his eye in this conversation. 'I have used love in the past to manipulate others with their own loved ones. That is the extent of my use for it.'

"Uh-huh, yeah sure. Didn't Gooey say you took care of him as a kid?"

'I was his guardian and little else. I certainly didn't take him on any missions or teach him anything of relevance.'

Kirby nodded idly, clearly not believing a word he said. "Yeah, uh-huh, yeah, yep, got it."

'What do you want from me?'

The child pointed an accusing finger at him. "I want you to quit being a lying dumdum popsicle!" 'What?' "If you're gonna stay here and be a good boi, you're gonna start with admitting you have a bit of good in you already!"

'Is that your prerequisite for treating someone with kindness?'

"Kinda! Everyone has a little bita good in them! But if you don't even recognize it, you can't act on it!"

That… was surprisingly profound for this stupid little child. Though Blade wasn't exactly planning on being a 'good boy,' he realized that the Voidborn wouldn't be letting this go. So he sighed and nodded in agreement.

'I suppose I have done a few good things in my life. Though they are greatly outweighed by evil.'

Gooey giggled. "That fine… most people do here."

"He's right! A lotta our friends started out kinda bad!"

Blade was well aware of that too, although he had to pretend he didn't know about any of those incidents if he didn't want his previous exploits to be revealed. 'I see…' he responded safely.

Kirby seemed satisfied with his response and spun around, heading towards the side door. "I'mma start making bekfast now! I'm so hungry, I could eat a…" They entered the kitchen before they could finish the saying. Gooey smiled at his friend's antics, then turned back to Blade.

"Thank you."

'For what?'

"Taking chance. Happy… to have sibling back… missed you…"

'Why would you miss me? I… there was nothing worth missing.'

"Not true. Loved you. Only happiness back then. Then turned bad. Did bad. Had to die. Missed when good. Glad back."

'I didn't turn bad. I was always like this.'

"Didn't have to let Gooey live. Let live. Twice. Not always bad."

'You keep going back to that.'

"Not denied yet."

That was true. Blade had yet to come up with a reason for why he saved Gooey's life back then that still aligned with his outward persona of evil. So he never really responded. And he likely would continue. If he just buried that feeling deep down enough, it would simply go away.

Ah… the king had been such a horrible influence on him.

Gooey continued, realizing Blade would not break the silence. He bluntly made a request.

"Take off armor."

'...Excuse me?'

"Take it off."

'Why?'

"From Zero. No good. Take off." 'As a sign that you're actually going to try and be good.'

'You're cleverer than you look, sibling.' Blade replied, a hint of venom injected into his tone.

'Thank you.' "Now, take off."

'What will you do if I refuse? Harm me?'

"No. Be mad. Won't trust. But won't stop."

Blade supposed that was fair. It was more a sign of good faith than a requirement for redemption. So he didn't HAVE to remove his armor if he didn't want to. But…

Well, he sort of did. This mask was given to him by Zero to make him appear like all the other, non-anomalous Dark Matters. To make it look like his eye was in the 'correct' place… He'd had it since he was very young. Since his first mission. Because Zero said no one would listen to a warrior who wasn't meant to be. And this chestplate was branded with his mark. With the eye.

He… didn't want to wear it anymore, he realized. Not really. But that was a horrifying thought, so he would have to mask it under mere obedience.

'Very well. I will accept your request.'

Gooey's eyes widened slightly, though blank smile didn't falter. Blade suspected that he was much better at keeping his emotions closer to his chest than he appeared. He'd have to keep a closer eye on that. And maybe probe his mind a bit, later. But that was for another time.

Blade first reached forward with his triangle-patterned fabric and removed his mask. It popped off rather cleanly, and he dropped it to the floor. Eurgh… everything was so much brighter without it on. How did these people not go blind before they hit 20? No matter, no matter, he'd persevere. As his vision adjusted, he moved to remove his shoulder pads and cloak. They hit the ground, along with the triangle fabric.

Hm.

He didn't know why, but he really liked that patterning. He… wanted to keep it. Like his scarf. It was not sentimental. It was merely a pleasant color and shape. So he willed the fabric to rise up and separate from the cloak. They floated around, drifting in lazy circles until he'd finished solidifying himself some real arms. They then wrapped around his limbs, forming a sort of gloves over them.

He had to admit, it looked nice. And this was much more dexterous than having to use that fabric as hands. He wasn't sure what he was thinking back then, but, then again, it wasn't as if he needed fingers during most of that invasion.

With that hurdle out of the way, he popped off the chestplate, letting it fall to the floor. Finally, he brushed some of the bangs out of his face. There. That should do for now.

'Is this sufficient.' He gestured with his newly formed arms, as if putting himself on display.

Gooey nodded, clapping excitedly. "Yay! Look nice! Look very nice!''

Kirby stuck their head out the kitchen door. "Hey, does anyone have a watering c- OOH! Woah! Gooey, what happened?"

"Sibling took off armor!"

"Woooooah." They stepped forward, charred spatula still in hand. "Swordguy, you're so pretty! Why'd ya wear a mask when you're so prettyyyyyyy?"

Blade's eye widened slightly at the compliment, but he quickly tamped down on that feeling. 'My name is not Swordguy. And I had to wear the armor. For various reasons.'

"Ugh, you're just like Metata. He also wears a mask even though he looks super cool and awesome and nice. You two would get along if he weren't probably gonna kill you on sight."

'Thanks for the reminder.' Before Kirby could elaborate further, the smoke alarm went off and they darted back into the kitchen, screaming at the top of their lungs. Blade raised an eyebrow. 'Should we… be helping them?'

"Nah. Always happens when cooking. Get better soon."

'...If you insist.'

It took approximately 45 minutes, but Kirby successfully managed to bake a meal of scrambled eggs. And yes, they really did bake them. Dark Matter Blade was as surprised any normal person would be when he saw the kid pull a trio of plates out of the oven. Smoke was still billowing out of the appliance, though the food both looked and smelled shockingly edible. Gooey seemed unfazed by this, so he had to assume it was a natural occurrence.

Kirby set the plates down and the two children shouted their thanks for the food to no one in particular before digging in. As expected from his previous observations, food began flying almost immediately. Blade swung his head back and forth, trying to avoid the mess. Eventually, he just ended up sinking under the table until the sound of aggressive consumption ended. With that, he sat back up in his seat.

'So, what exactly is your plan, you two?'

Kirby paused their reach for the ketchup bottle (where they gonna drink it?) to stare at him. "Huh? Whaddya meana?"

'I can't imagine I'm going to be very welcome in Dreamland without a great deal of explanation. Explanation you may not have time to give, considering how often you've claimed your father will kill me on sight.'

"Uh- um- well, I mean, we could just… keep you here? Until we figure out a good way to explain to everyone that you should get a second chance… It… it shouldn't be that hard, right?"

'Hard to hide me or hard to come up with an explanation.' Neither of them seemed very easy to Blade, but what did he know?

A lot. He knew quite a lot. Far more than he should or wanted to.

Kirby's brow furrowed in a rare show of irritation. "Look, if we just sit everyone down and explain that you wanna be a good person, I'm sure they'll understand. They might not… forgiveness might not be instantly on the table but- but they'll let you alone! We just gotta- just gotta wait for the right time to talk to everyone!"

'When will the right time be? How long are you planning to wait? And do you honestly believe you'll be able to keep me hidden that long?'

"We'll know the right time when we see it! This is gonna work out, I promise!"

Gooey glanced nervously between the two of them. "Um… don't hafta solve now… can wait…"

'No. We need to figure this out now, if I'm really going to be participating in this ridiculous endeavor. It would be appreciated if you at least pretended that you had a better idea than simply waiting around for a solution to drop into your lap. Did you even think about this before you offered to 'help' me?'

Slamming their hands on the table, Kirby yelled, "I'LL FIGURE IT OUT! I'm TRYING to HELP YOU! I- do you WANT me to fail? Is that it? Do you WANT to die or something?! I- I'm trying, okay? Just give me a sec- just give me a sec-" They buried their face in their hands, resting their elbows on the table. Blade clenched his teeth, a bit disturbed by their outburst. It was… odd. That was the only word he could grasp to describe the feeling roiling in his chest. Kirby's breath was hitching slightly; were they about to cry?

Blade ignored the tiny urge to reach forward and rest a hand on their head. That wouldn't do any good. You can't fix anything with stuff like that.

After a few moments, the child calmed down. They slid down, slouching and resting their chin on the table. "Sorry. I'm sorry I can't come up with anythin' right now. I'll… figure it out. For now? I guess… we'll just keep you here secrety. Not forever. I promise, it won't be forever. I promise."

Blade simply bowed his head in acknowledgement. Silence lingered over the trio for a while. A while could be a very long time, or a very short one, depending on who you asked. But this eternity was only about 30 seconds.

Kirby sat back up, sighing. "Can ya eat your yeggs please? I spent a lotta time on them."

Blade shook his head. 'I do not need to eat… I don't want you to keep wasting your time on making food for me.'

"But… hmmmmm…" Gooey tapped his sleeve to his chin in thought. "If like me now… probably hungry… stomach hurt?"

Now that he mentioned it, Blade had been feeling a weird clawing in his torso for a while now, although he assumed it had to do with either still not being fully finished, or being dizzy from using magic too soon after his recovery. But was this what hunger is supposed to feel like? Hm. No wonder people ate so much all the time. What an annoyingly physical response.

'...Yes. It does hurt. But that doesn't prove anything.'

Gooey pushed the plate a bit closer to the Matter. "Eat! See if fixed!"

'If you insist…'

The man hesitantly picked up his fork, not used to wielding any handheld item besides a sword. He pointed it at the scrambled eggs as if he were about to stab them with a dagger.

"Uh, are ya sure you wanna hold it like that?"

'Why not.'

"Won't it be kinda hard t' put it in your mouth?"

Hm. He had not considered that. Despite the fact that he'd spent so much time watching people eat in the past five years, he never actually thought about the mechanics of using silverware. He awkwardly spun the handle of the fork around his fingers, as if playing with a pen. Kirby quickly grew tired of this and walked around the table to help.

"Here. Ya put it between your thumb and pointy finger. And then ya just… pick it up!" They guided Dark Matter Blade's hand as if he were a child, helping him scoop up a pile of eggs before letting go. "Now put it in your mouth!"

'I can figure that much…' he muttered darkly. He stuck the eggs in his mouth, shooting a glare at nothing in particular.

But then he just sat there, not chewing or swallowing or anything.

"You… hafta… finish eat? Sibling?"

'I- I know that! I'm trying to figure out how to move my mouth!'

"Do you… not already know how to do that?" Kirby's head spun at the very concept.

'I've rarely ever used my mouth for anything other than emoting, and even that has been rather limited until… recently. So forgive me for not having total control of my chewing faculties!'

Kirby choked back a giggle. They were becoming more and more aware that the Dark Matter Swordguy got flustered super easily. He kept trying to hide it, but he wasn't doing a very good job, in Kirby's opinion. And there, just now! Right after he stopped 'yelling' at them, he'd immediately dropped his face into apathy! Jeez, what a door key!

It took a bit longer than it should have, but the Blade's jaw finally began moving. He chewed in a very exaggerated motion, like a baby getting used to having teeth. His swallow was also extremely exaggerated. Like a cartoon. Gooey clapped his hands together, a pleased smile on his face.

"Good! Good! Hungry hurt anymore?"

'Not as much… I suppose you were right. Maybe.'

Kirby hopped up to sit on the table. "Did it taste good? Did it?"

'Uh… taste….?' Blade stared at the plate blankly. 'I… wasn't paying attention to the taste.'

Kirby groaned and fell backwards on the table, nearly knocking everything over. "Uuuuuugh. This is gonna take a while…"

...

Blade's efforts to finish his meal were slow but sure. Gooey and Kirby made to clean up the total disaster in the kitchen. By the time he'd finished, the room was miraculously clean. Perhaps the two kids weren't as incompetent as he thought. Not that he had room to judge. It took him nearly an hour to eat a singular plate of scrambled eggs. But… yeah, it did taste good. He would say it was the best thing he'd ever eaten, but that would be cheating.

But now he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. Just… sit around? All day? Is that what the kids did? He knew the king at least had a lot of diplomatic and monarchal duties to attend to, but Kirby and Gooey were just kids. They didn't have jobs that he was aware of besides… protecting Dreamland. Which wasn't in danger at the moment, discounting his own existence.

'Is… there something you would recommend I do now?' he tentatively asked as Gooey moved to put his dish in the sink. He wouldn't ask them for instructions, because that would look pathetic. As if he couldn't do anything on his own.

…He really couldn't do anything on his own. He'd almost always had someone telling him what to do, and the one time he tried to act individually, he'd almost died. But… that was besides the point, right? He was a failure as both a person and an unperson.

"You could read a book! I have a bunch that Metata and Dehdehdeh and Bandee gave me! I don' read them, but you might like it!" Kirby offered.

'Very well. I should be able to do that.' He'd picked up a bit of the lettering in the past half decade, enough that he could string words together. If he took his time, he might find himself understanding it. With that, he nodded and headed back into the main room.

Kirby and Gooey waved him goodbye and eased the door shut behind him. But not all the way. Instead, they left it cracked open so they could listen in for any potential weirdness and spy on him if needed. But that wasn't their main goal in staying behind. If they wanted to keep an eye on him, they would've just followed him.

"Sheesh… this is gonna be hard. He doesn't know anything about how to be happy, does he?"

Gooey shook his head. "No… nothing good back there. Nothing at all."

"Yeah, you told me a bit about it. But… how are we gonna get him to be a good boi if he doesn't even know what good feels like?"

"Guess… just gotta show… take time. Slow… Sorry, no good ideas."

"No, you're right. We just gotta show him what being happy feels like, yeha? An' then he won't try ta take over the world cuz that'll make him sad. 'N then… aha!" Kirby tapped their fist against their palm. "Once we know he doesn't wanna stay sad, that's when we can take him to the others!"

It's usually easy to tell whether someone's being honest about wanting to be happy. It's very difficult to fake that sort of lie, because it is often innate to being a person. So Kirby decided that switch in motives would be the perfect opportunity.

"Sooo… what do we do to make him happy?"

"Hm… friends make happy. Food makes happy. Sleep makes happy. Play makes happy."

"Yes, of course! The four cornerstones of Having a Good Time! If we manage to get him all four of those, then he's bound to be happy, for sure! Zutto zutto zutto!"

Deciding that was the best plan they had at the moment, the two kids snuck towards the door to spy on the Matter. They'd enter the room in a bit, but they were curious to see how he acted when no one else was around.

Blade plucked a book off the shelf and plopped down on the floor, perhaps a bit more dramatically than necessary. He could feel the two kids watching him, but he wouldn't call them out on it until he got annoyed. Instead, he opened to the first page and stared at it, not really absorbing anything. Not even really looking at it. His mind was filled with too many thoughts, none of which he could process. Like a fog descending over his mind, he couldn't formulate a single concept in a way that mattered.

What was he doing..? Why was he doing this? He shouldn't want this. He shouldn't need this. He shouldn't want to be happy. He shouldn't want to be sad.

If he wasn't happy, that was a good thing, wasn't it? He'd done bad things. Really, truly awful things… For such a long time, he hadn't even cared. COULDN'T even care. And now here he was, acting like this 'redemption' was something he wanted. Yes. It was just ACTING. No. It wasn't just acting… he wanted this. He didn't want this; he just wanted to destroy everything. He could do it right here, right now, without anyone seeing it coming. He could let himself go out in a blast of fury, destroying his body, the anomaly, and the protector of Dreamland in one fell swoop.

That's what he should do, if he was a bad guy.

He should just end his own life right now. It was the right thing to do, if he was really such a filthy creature. He should turn himself in right now to the king and his knight and let them do whatever they wanted to him.

That's what he should do, if he was a good guy.

Hm? So either option ended in death? Was that it? So the only way for him to live was to continue being liminal? That's what he was right now, wasn't he? So he couldn't choose, or he'd die. That made sense. Any time he made a choice in the past, it ended up with him almost dying. So let's just… let this keep happening. Keep walking down the path, seeing where it leads you, but not diverging. That is the only way for you to keep living. Isn't that what you wanted? Wasn't that your first brush with emotion, back then?

'I want to live… right?'

Blade brushed his gloved hand against his face. Where his other eye would be, if he weren't a Dark Matter. Dark ooze stained his palm. Sticky. Tar-like. Filthy. This was what he was made of, yes? Filth?

There wasn't supposed to be a place for things like him in this world.

Gooey was special. He was a unique existence. An anomaly.

(Could he be special too? As a fellow anomaly?)

Such wishful thinking would lead to his death, wouldn't it?

Blade sighed, his mind having cleared a bit, and tried to focus back on the page. It was a bit easier to focus now, and found himself slowly weaving the title together. "The Life and Times of Amoldia Snailvi: A Biographical Adventure Tale." What a curious name. Well, it might provide interesting insight to certain aspects of Pop Star life he wasn't as privy to. What year was this dated anyw-

The Dark Matter suddenly shot to his feet, a chill running up his spine before he even realized why he'd jumped. Before he even realized that he'd formed his sword. Ah- ahaha- Oh, he was still quick to the draw! That was good, that was GOOD! What- what did he just react to? He played the past two seconds back in his mind. Right, right! That LAUGH. That bizarre, cold, nearly crystal clear laugh. Way too adult to be Kirby or Gooey. Way too knowing to be someone who didn't recognize him. It was undeniable, wasn't it? That somebody was watching him? Or rather, that somebody had spotted him?

But the chill clamping around his neck vanished as quickly as it came. Evaporating his sword, he forced the tension out of his body. He was just nervous. Just nervous from being thrust into a strange situation. If nothing else, he recognized paranoia when he saw it. Dedede had taught him well in that regard. So… it was probably nothing.

And if it wasn't… then he'd make sure it ENDED up being nothing.