So we're heading back to the Star Allies and the drones! And well…I think it's time for a certain corporate suck up to finally wake up and see what's going on! Let's begin!

As she finally rebooted, J let out a groan. She'd been trying to fix her (not her team anymore. She refused to be associated with those two traitors anymore) ship when that annoying ball jester thing had begun bothering her, with J trying to blow him to bits after he ended up damaging the ship with one of his beach balls (where did he even summon those from!?). J had only gotten angrier as she failed to kill him, but before she could, something ended up shorting her out. Still, now that she was awake, she was looking forward to ripping that little blacklisted grape apart.

It was only then J realized she couldn't move.

"What the-!?" J frantically began looking around and quickly realized she was not on Copper-9 anymore. Instead, she was in a very bright…something. She had a feeling it was a building of some type, but it felt like they were moving. Her arms and legs were restrained by what looked like blue streams of energy, so trying to use any of her ranged weapons wouldn't help her make an escape.

"Oh robogod no…" J trailed off as she finally noticed that N and V were watching over her, along with a strange masked ball thing.

"Glad to see you're awake, narc," V taunted, causing J to snarl at her.

"What do you two corporate whistleblowers want!?" J snapped. "Come to try and convince me to 'stop being hostile' and come make nice with those pathetic worker drones again?"

"Oh come on J! They're actually really cool!" N chimed in. "And besides! We can finally just relax and not fight anymore! It's what Tessa would have wa-"

"DON'T YOU DARE BRING HER INTO THIS!" J roared, trying to launch herself at N, only stopped by the restraints. Still, N, V and the masked thing all backed up, the latter drawing his sword.

"I see why you didn't want to leave her with Outpost 3," The masked ball noted. "Her rage would no doubt cause her to attack them in hopes of sedating her bloodlust."

"J…we miss her too-" N tried again, but J wasn't having any of it.

"We don't deserve to speak her name!" J looked away, but it didn't hide the tears that appeared on her visor. "She took us all in and gave us a purpose and what did we do? Slaughtered her and all the other humans!"

"If you cared so much, then why did you work for the same being that turned into the monsters that killed her and destroyed her home?" V asked as she crossed her arms. She didn't want to deal with J's little pity party where she tried to V and N for anything she could again. She'd put up with it the first couple times under the idea that J'd get it out of her system at some point, but it was clear she still didn't want to admit she had any hand in this. For her part, J merely looked away, but V wasn't letting this go again. Besides, she was pretty sure she knew the answer at this point. "You were afraid of the Solver, weren't you? Well newsflash J! We all were afraid of the Solver! But N and I still stood against it! You worked with the same thing that wore Tessa's skin around like some horrific Halloween costume!" J noticed the masked ball's eyes take on a disgusted look. J couldn't tell if it was aimed at her or the Solver. V promptly got right up in her former boss's face when she noticed J looking away. "So tell me, J, what gives you the right to tell N and I not to talk about Tessa!?"

"V! Stop!" N begged, tugging on V and trying to pull her away. "Yelling isn't going to do anything!"

"...Why?"

"Huh?" Both N and V turned back to J, who looked both confused and tired.

"Why do you keep trying to be nice to me!?" She asked, voice full of confusion. "All I've done is hurt and insult you both! Especially you, N! So tell me why you won't just let me be miserable and lonely like everyone else!?"

"...I think we've all been miserable long enough," Was all N had to say before he walked over to J and gave her a hug. "Please J. If not for me and V, then for Tessa. At first, N wasn't sure if J would even consider agreeing with him, but then he felt her tail wrap around him before she buried her head in his shoulder, clearly meant to substitute returning the hug since she couldn't use her arms and legs at the moment.

"...I don't wanna be alone anymore…" J admitted between her sobs.

"How do we know this isn't a trick?" V had to ask, even if seeing J like this was causing V to feel bad for someone she never thought she'd pity.

"...From what I have seen, most people who wish to take advantage of another's sympathy, they do it after a direct loss. Not after all the time J has clearly had to dwell on her poor choices." Meta Knight spoke up. And that was what got V to join N and J's hug. It had been far too long since they'd shared a group hug…even if it didn't feel quite right with the two other members of their family missing.

"So, mom, how are you feeling?" Uzi asked her mom with a smile.

"Feels really good," Nori said as she flexed her fingers. While clearing things up with Outpost 3 and explaining where they were doing, Susie had questioned what had happened to Nori and why she was nothing but a core. Upon learning the full story, Susie had offered to repair Nori's body as a thanks to her daughter for helping rescue her. Nori, who had said repeatedly that she missed being able to hug her family and kiss her husband (much to Uzi's dismay), eagerly took her up on the offer. Khan helped them find Nori's old body, with Susie wasting no time in getting straight to work and quickly finished all the needed repairs. Almost as soon as she was done, Nori jumped straight in and soon found her old body worked like a charm. She then turned to Susie. "Thanks again. You're a real one."

Susie nodded in appreciation. "Aga, it is no problem. Your daughter helped possibly save my life. It's the least I could do. Now then, one final test-can you stand up?"

"Hang on…" Nori quickly tried to stand. She made it a couple steps before stumbling and losing her balance. Khan and Uzi caught her well before she hit the ground. "Heh. Guess I'm still not used to walking on two legs."

"Just take your time, mom," Uzi said, nuzzling deeper into her mom's side and smiling when her mom wrapped her arm around her in response.

"We're here for you," Khan chimed in. Nori merely chuckled as she and her husband happily shared a long overdue kiss.

"Robogod I missed that," Nori said in a blissful tone. "When we get home, you and I need to make up for lost time."

"Mom! Can't you and dad be gross when I'm not right here!?" Uzi whined, prompting a laugh from both of her parents, as well as Susie.

"Uzi, you make out with a murder drone. You don't get to talk," Khan playfully teased his daughter, who merely pouted and looked away, but her parents could clearly see her smiling. Nori really didn't want to let her family go, considering it had been so long since she held them, but she knew she had to keep trying to walk again. Slowly letting go, Nori managed to steady herself and, once she was certain she was stable, gave walking another go. The first few steps were unsteady, but she found walking came much easier once she got going.

"Looks like you should be fine," Susie said with a nod. With that, the group heading out of the lab Susie had been working in.

And found a sight that filled all three Doormans with rage.

"You!" Nori snarled as she glared down J, who couldn't look her or her family members in the eyes.

"Why is she free!?" Uzi snapped at N and V.

"Oh c'mon Uzi! She said she doesn't want to fight us anymore!" N tried to assure his girlfriend, who clearly wasn't buying it.

"In case you forgot, N, she helped the Solver try to kill everyone and she's the reason I grew up without a mom!" Uzi pointed out, causing N to flinch. While Nori wasn't completely forgiving of him and V, the fact neither of them actually killed her did make her more willing to forgive and forget.

"And I ate your cousin's parents," V chimed in as she walked over to J, placing a hand on her shoulder. J flinched in response, but almost seemed to lean into the touch as she nervously rubbed her arm. "Not saying it was right, but the Solver had its hooks in her too."

"I wanna hear it from her," Nori hissed at J, who still couldn't look her or her family in the eyes. In response, J closed her eyes and let out a sigh.

"I…I know you hate me," J began, still unable to look the Doormans in the eyes. "And I don't blame you. I did a lot of horrible things. I deluded myself into believing the Solver would spare me if I helped it. I tried to pretend I was helping the one person who cared for me, but, deep down, I knew the truth-I was a coward. I thought the Solver was unbeatable…leave it to you to prove me wrong. And…I know it won't change anything, but I really am sorry. Sorry I ruined your family and sorry I'm a useless liability." At that, everyone went silent. The Star Allies, who knew they all likely lacked the full story, still looked like they really wanted to say something. The other drones also looked like they wanted to speak up, but Thad and Lizzy had almost nothing to do with J beyond trying to fight her once and befriending her old team while N and V knew that they had to let J speak for herself. Finally, Nori walked over to her.

"...You stole me from my family," Nori said after a couple seconds. "Those are years I'm never getting back. And you kept trying to hurt my husband and my daughter…but I guess everyone was drowning in the same pool."

"Mom! You're forgiving her just like that!?" Uzi exclaimed as she threw her hands in the air.

"I'm not. I'm saying why I'm not blowing her head off with the Solver," Nori elaborated, her glare still leveled on J.

"Better than nothing," J mumbled to herself, still looking at the ground. Nori walked back to her family, protectively wrapping her arms around her husband and daughter. After several more painfully awkward seconds, people began milling about the ship once again, giving J a chance to slink off. She should have known she wouldn't get forgiveness.

"Hmph. You are really content to wallow in your own misery?"

J jumped, aiming her guns at the somehow edgier than Uzi masked ball, who seemed very unimpressed by her display. Once she saw he was content to just stare at her, she lowered her guns. "...What do you want?"

"To tell you to stop being pathetic," Dark masked ball sneered at her.

"Considering everyone still hates me, I don't see the point," J promptly replied.

"The fact you are still alive proves there is a chance for you to earn your forgiveness," Dark masked ball said bluntly.

"Oh because you know everything I've done!" J snapped as she looked away, crossing her arms as she did so.

"You're correct. I don't fully know your story…but it appears to be similar to my own." The dark masked ball said. Upon noticing J's shocked look, the dark masked ball continued. "My former master was not much different from yours. He took me and tortured me into a weapon. A merciless fighter who would attack what he told me to attack. As much as I hated it, it was all I knew. So I took comfort in that fact. That I was his merciless weapon. Then my light counterpart and Kirby defeated him. And I was…lost. I had nothing and I had to truly face that I had hurt people…and, as it turns out, some of them I didn't even realize I was hurting until it was too late."

"How do you not know when you are hurting someone?" J had to ask.

"I was getting there," The masked ball snapped before he took a breath. "My rage bled through an artifact that linked my world to Kirby's own. An artifact that would wind up corrupting Taranza's first love."

"Taranza?" J questioned, realizing she didn't know any of the Star Allies' names beyond the group's name as a whole.

"The arachnid figure," The masked ball said. J nodded. She'd seen him when N and V had led her into the main area of the ship. "I was unaware of it at the time. But I would later discover that all my rage, hate and fear had created a corrupting aura. One that would drive Taranza's love to become obsessed with beauty that the one to stop her…was to put her down. There is not a day that goes by that I don't wish I could have broken free sooner, if only because I saw the pain I caused him. But…you can not change the past. The most I can do is try to prevent him…or anyone else from suffering the same pain." For a few minutes, J and the masked ball stood in silence as the former processed the latter's worlds. The advice seemed pretty sound, but there was a question eating away at J's thoughts.

"Did…did he forgive you?" J finally asked.

"...He has not forgotten…but I do believe he has forgiven me. Sometimes, I do not believe I deserve it, but since I have it…I am making the most of it," The masked ball admitted. J somehow could tell he was smiling, which caused J to finally crack a smile of her own. Even if those she hurt would never fully forget her crimes, she still had a chance to be forgiven someday.

"So…I want to thank you, but I'm only realizing I don't know your name," J sheepishly admitted.

"Dark Meta Knight. You may refer to me as Dark if you wish," He replied. "But try to call me Darkie like that jester cretin and I will reduce you to scrap!"

"Guess that's another thing we have in common," J couldn't help but comment.

"Dark!" The little fairy creature (who's name J also didn't know) called out as she flew over. "You wanna come draw with us?" She then took notice of J. "Oh hey! You're…J, right?" You wanna come draw with us too?"

"Are you sure you want me there?" J asked as she rubbed her arm.

"Yeah! It'll be fun!" The fairy said eagerly. J thought for a second. It would be nice to get to know the Star Allies better. Besides, it had been a while since J had gotten to draw.

"Okay, I'll come," J agreed.

"I will join as well," Dark Meta Knight said, prompting the fairy to lead them to a room with a decent sized table. J wasn't shocked to find N already there.

"Oh hi J! Are you here to draw with us?" N excitedly asked.

"Thought it sounded like a good way to pass the time." J admitted as she took a seat. "So…I don't actually know most of your names."

"Oh right! Should probably introduce you to everyone!" N acknowledged before pointing to each person in the room. "That's Daroach, that's Storo, that's Ribbon, that's ChuChu and that's Adeleine!" Once N was done, each Star Ally gave some sort of introductory greeting settling into their work. J joined in as well and found that, despite how childish she thought she'd feel drawing with crayons, it was surprisingly fun and relaxing. But for some reason, J found herself looking at Adeleine repeatedly. Her memories of life back at the manor were still hazy, in spite of her best efforts to unlock more of her memories of a time before she was a Disassembly Drone (and back when Tessa was still around), but, for some reason, Adeleine was giving her a weird sense of Deja Vu.

"Hey N? Can I talk to you…in private?" J asked after enough time.

"Sure!" N cheerfully replied as he stood up to follow J. Once they were alone, he let his smile drop. "Are you okay?"

"That girl, Adeleine…does she seem familiar to you?" J asked.

"She…kinda does?" N sheepishly admitted. "V asked me the same thing. But I don't even think she knows she's possibly a human, so it might just be a familiarity thing. Like, we're just latching onto her because she kinda reminds us of Tessa."

"...It feels too real for that," J replied. "But let's see if any of our memories come back to us…or how she reacts."

"Sounds good!" N replied before rushing back to his work. J followed, but couldn't stop herself from stealing another glance at Adeleine. Was N right for a change and she really just missed Tessa? Or was there something else going?

And with that, J begins her redemption arc and the plot between Adeleine and our trio of Disassembly Drones thickens! Now…as for J killing Nori, since the show never actually revealed which of the trio did it and how no one really makes a big deal about it beyond "a Disassembly Drone killed Nori", I kinda just assumed it was because Uzi wasn't befriending Nori's killer. For Dark Meta Knight's thing, since Dededetour isn't canon beyond the reveal that Dark Meta Knight was the one who corrupted the mirror, I thought it would be interesting to frame it that it wasn't intentional. Rather, it was a manifestation of his hate and rage towards Dark Mind for what he did to him. Remember! Shadow Kirby is a good guy so it's possible that Dark Meta Knight was also one at one point as well. (Also I am a dirty "screw the pause screens! Marx, DMK and Susie all made full Heel-Face Turns in Star Allies!" headcanoner and you can pray that from my cold, dead hands)Now then…next chapter, we finally arrive at the cult's base of operations! See you then!