Work Text
“I’m mistaken and I’m misunderstood, I really can’t care less
All of you people, fighting the evil for your world; all that truth and pain
You don’t know what’s right or wrong, but you play along in this small game
Yes, I really don’t care—
You are to blame!”
– That’s Why I Gave Up on Music, Yorushika [AIDA’s cover]
[Kirby]
Resolution Road
Above the Streets
This is an absolute nightmare.
Flying through the expansive cityscape, I couldn’t help but grimace.Skyscrapers covering the land in spades; pollution blowing through every straw-like chimney…It’s everything I’ve never wanted to see.It’s everything Pop Star shouldn’t be.I wonder how much of a mercy it was, missing the entire opening strike.I’ve heard from around that Meta Knight and King Dedede had brought their best forces to bear—and were soundly defeated in an instant.Castle Dedede? Partly buried in rubble.The Battleship Halberd? Shot down and missing in action.At least I could fell the Subspace Gunship with a well-aimed strike from the Dragoon.If I tried the same thing on this giant mothership…?I think I’d just bounce off.……so, yeah.It’s not great.All I can do now is head to each of its mechanical arms and break them down; release this organization’s hold on our planet, one corner at a time.Everything may have changed, but my resolve will always stay the same.Unfortunately, that just gives me a first-hand look at the damage being done to my beautiful home——and to all the horrors of life that this company is capable of.
There was a crowd of Waddle Dees running away.
There was a crowd of Waddle Dees running away, panic in their eyes and sweat flying off their heads.
“RUN!”
“SAVE YOURSELF!”
“HE’S GONE CRAZY!”
Sword in hand and still standing in place, I wildly twisted my head in an attempt to understand what was happening.
“H-Hey! Guys!” I tried to interject. “What’s going on!? Why are you running!?”
I got only one response: “THEY’VE UNROOTED THE TREEEEEEE!”
But before I could inquire any further…
THOM! THOM! THOM! THOM! THOM! THOM!
…I heard these strange, metallic-sounding stomps approach me.
Suddenly full of dread, I turned around.
…
…
…
My jaw dropped.
Oh, there was a tree, alright—but only a facsimile of one. The leaves had been turned into green steel balls, connected to its ‘trunk’ by thin brown pipes. Four spider-like legs extended from its bottom, keeping it aloft via four shiny drills. It sported two bionic claws and pink-tinted monocles for eyes—and where once there was a mouth, there was extended a long, yellow-rimmed cannon.
I knew who this was.
It was painfully obvious.
As the thing-that-was-once-a-tree roared in fury, I shouted in horror—
“WHISPY!?”
…It’s not enough that we’re being forced through industrialization for industrialization’s sake.It’s not enough that our world is losing the natural beauty that made me fall in love with it.No, no.They have to violate us.Violate everything that make us us.Replace our flesh and organs with cold, metal parts; take away our agency and leave us marching along in the dark.It’s sickening.It’s repulsive.And I don’t have a choice but to fight those caught in that heavy net.…they don’t have a choice.At least I’ve got this new Robobot Armor to even the tides, if only by a little bit.Pounding people aside, it’s a lot of fun to use; as natural to me as any Copy Ability.It’s the one highlight in this discomforting ride of an adventure.…I just wish it didn’t come from such a blighted place.How can a group of people look at this destruction and say that it’s worth it? I asked myself.
How can they ruin so many lives without batting an eye?
How?
……there’s no good answer for that.At least, none that I’d ever accept.But whatever the case may be……I can’t let these guys go on with this invasion.Everyone’s counting on me.
“You’ve been alright, Dee?” I asked.
The spear-wielding assistant nodded.
“Y-Yeah,” he replied. “No p-problems here! Aside from the usual…”
It had been a few days since this all started. Bandana Dee and I were breaking in the Patched Plains’ Green Laboratory. I could name many words to describe the place: bright, cold,
sterile
…
There was no heart here.
Just a blind march toward an uncaring cliff.
“I worry for you, y’know,” I said, taking a sip from a milk carton. “Neither of us are uncapable, but—you’re the one who’s got infinitely more to lose here. You’re going at it alone.”
“I know,” Dee said. “I—I knew from the start that th-this was dangerous. But I didn’t regret fighting the last three adventures, and I don’t regret it now.”
He twirled his spear around.
“I’ve grown; running away isn’t my default option anymore. I’ve got a duty to help, and I won’t turn back from it. After all—
“Dream Land needs us. It needs all of us.”
I hummed.
“Yeah, it does,” I quietly agreed. “Somebody has to take the initiative. If not us, then… who else?”
It’s up to us to frontline the rebellion, and keep the heat off everyone we can.
And hopefully…
…we’ll get the rest of Pop Star to follow in our footsteps.
With my Robobot Armor in Jet Mode, I continued to fly through the air—up until I hit a blockade in the form of this humongous contraption: a floating, spinning wall of a base, filled to the brim with cogs, gears, and dangerous-looking rotary cannons.The cannons shifted into place with a click.I simply narrowed my eyes.
Mobilized Mechanical Menace
C.O.G.S.
“Can’t even have a peaceful flight anymore, huh?” I scoffed. “Well, that’s just fine. If you’re going to stand in my way, I won’t hesitate!”I charged up a Missile Salvo.“Whatever it takes, I’m setting everything right!
“Now, come at me!”
[Susie]
Overload Ocean
Command Center – Susie’s Office
This is a dream of a moment.
Everything is going just as planned.
…well, almost.
Almost everything.
I tapped my finger against the mouse.“I hope you have a good explanation for why two of the Access Ark’s drills have been totaled within the last week,” I calmly stated to a trio of Haltworkers standing in front of my desk. “Despite all appearances, this operation is vital for the continued success of our company. Our profit margins edge higher every quarter.”On my computer screen were several progress reports, each detailing a notable decline in productivity compared to previous endeavors.More specifically, supplies were being destroyed, and costs were rising to discomforting heights.This was not acceptable.“Th-Th-This isn’t an excuse, b-but—the enemy we are facing i-is tremendously strong!” one of the Haltworkers replied. “Nothing we have s-seems to faze him for long! The natives k-know him well… his very presence is enough to inspire revolt in them!”“Quelling them is not easy, either,” another supplied; “Copy Abilities here seem to be much more developed, and those with them have the combat experience to use them effectively. And that is not even getting into how their hero—that pink savage—can use so many…”I raised an eyebrow. “Pink savage?”“It’s—It’s in the footage here,” the third Haltworker said, passing me a USB drive. “It took us a bit to compile it all, but—you’ll see what we’re talking about.”I took the drive and inserted it into my computer.Watching the video files load, I double-clicked on the first one I saw.For several years, the Haltmann Works Company has focused near-exclusively on our Mechanizing Occupation Project—with me as the lead benefactor, of course. A targeted expansion across the entire galaxy, elevating societies to new heights and harvesting their resources for our own gain. Thanks to the power of the Mother Computer, any resistance we faced was scuttled in short order.The natives would complain, but they usually fell into place.(I’ve never understood why their first instinct is to spurn our goodwill.After all, our eternal prosperity is in turn their eternal prosperity.)As such, we were fairly confident on extending our reach to this backwater planet. It looked like a perfect candidate for our purposes: there were no orbital defenses to speak of; no higher civilization to be found. The amount of untapped energy and resources here was astounding—honestly, it should’ve been ours ages ago.This should have been an easy conquest.With the might of the Access Ark, our primary mothership, all should be bowing to our will.And yet…And yet, despite our surface-level success……something clearly seemed to be going wrong.
I want to know why.
A silence passed as I took everything in.“You are certain of the accuracy of this information, correct?” I asked the first Haltworker, glaring at him with the utmost severity. “I don’t appreciate being given false details, I hope you realize.”He gulped, and nodded frantically.“It—It is! All of this was retrieved straight from our own databases! Honest!”I continued to stare at him.He started quavering nervously.………“Very well,” I finally said. “You three are dismissed.”The trio wasted no time in swiftly making an exit.I turned my attention back to the figure featured in the footage.A small, pink, spherical being, able to wield various weapons and powers at the literal drop of a hat.…
“You’ll never win.”
I halted my movements.
“Hmm?”
Aboard the Access Ark, standing in one of the conversion labs, I whirled about to face the individual currently held aloft in stasis. The knight I had taken in for his impressive skills was glowering intensely at me, though the effect was lost with his mask off; such a face was ill-suited to create any sort of intimidation effect.
He growled. “You’ll never win. Not truly. Not if you insist on keeping to this course. You may have the advantage now, but it’ll escape you soon.”
“The opposite was the case, last I checked,” I replied, putting my hands together. “Almost all of this planet is under our control now. Any allies you may have will soon be scattered into stardust; such is our might.”
His breath hitched.
“…no,” he said. “There is one whose power can surpass yours. One who will never bend, no matter how hard you try. A true Hero of the Stars.”
“Oh?” I raised an eyebrow. “Is that the case?”
Hmph. He must still be delirious from his earlier defeat.
Dreaming up an invincible hero who can ‘save’ this planet…?
Apologies, but that’s simply ridiculous.
“Your path will lead you to him, and then you’ll see,” he continued. “Against his resolve… you’ll crumble.”
…
“So you say,” I huffed. “I had hoped that you would be amicable to offering your services to us… but seeing as you refuse to submit, it seems I’ll have to reverse your thinking myself.”
I went to the nearby control panel and tapped a few on-screen buttons.
“You should feel grateful, really,” I added, just for courtesy. “You’ll be serving a greater purpose than you could ever dream of. With your skills… we’ll achieve all of our goals before long.”
His glower only became sterner.
Lowly, he vowed—
“You’ll regret this.”
…
A Hero of the Stars, huh?
How interesting.
I had dismissed his ramblings as mere fiction, but perhaps they have more basis in reality than I had expected.I can’t let this go uninvestigated. We can’t afford to take any risks, not if the threat he poses to our operation is real.He? She? They?…well, that doesn’t really matter.They’ve gone through the Patched Plains and Resolution Road already. If they’re going counterclockwise from there, then my current location—Overload Ocean—is next.It’s time I greet them personally, then.“Well, you’re in luck, Little Pinky,” I said to myself. “My Business Suit just received a polishing; I’ve been looking for an excuse to get some exercise in.”I pushed my chair away from my desk.“Come what may, I’ll show you the follies of your reckless behavior. Now—
“Let’s see what you’re made of.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“Do you see the stars out there, Susie?”
At the sound of her father’s voice, Susie touched her hand against the glass.
“Yes, Papa. I do.”
Little lights glimmered down from all across the night sky.
There were no clouds blotting out the sight—the realm above was as clear as clear could be. For all that it was a common occurrence, one that could be witnessed from just about anywhere in the galaxy… it never stopped being absolutely, indescribably beautiful.
“They say that each star is made up of the lights from people’s hearts. They spread out across the galaxy, taking some of that light to fill worlds with life and kindness.”
“Really?” Susie’s eyes were wide. “They must have to carry a lot, then! Space is a very, very big place!”
Even just looking at a map made her head spin. There were so many names and so many dots, and she hadn’t even seen a complete chart yet—just a fraction of it.
A fraction so small, it might as well have been… infinitesimal.
(That was a new word she learnt recently!)
“Indeed it is,” Haltmann said, “and indeed they do. But sometimes, that isn’t enough. Sometimes, fate leads them astray, and… they’re too lost to find a way back.”
He shook his head. “Even the brightest light cannot stay lit forever.”
“But that’s why we’re here, right?” the pink-haired girl piped up. “We’re gonna be their savior! We’re gonna give them our stuff and develop their e-co-nom-ies and show them how to be the best planets ever!”
Haltmann chuckled.
“Yes, that is our goal. One day, every planet in this universe will know the name ‘Haltmann Works Company’—and they will be grateful for it.”
This would be his legacy, the culmination of his entire life. Founded from scratch, he had worked tirelessly to elevate a simple startup business into a planet-spanning enterprise, all thanks to his peerless passion and ingenious inventions.
None of it had been easy, of course; managing his company’s finances and technological innovations at the same time was a task he wouldn’t suffer upon most others.
But for his daughter…
…it was worth it to create a reality she’d be able to flourish in.
He rubbed her hair affectionately.
“Someday, it’ll all be yours to lead, my little one,” he told her. “I hope that, when that time comes, you’ll be able to extend our reach to even greater heights, beyond what I can do alone.”
“Don’t worry, Papa!” she cheerfully replied. “I’m gonna make you proud, just you see!”
Haltmann chuckled.
“Oh, Susie… that’s what I’m counting on.”
[Kirby]
Overload Ocean
Underwater Station – Interior
With a band of poison literally swirling on top of my head, I walked into an open, circular room.I was expecting one of many things going in.Another hulking, mechanical monstrosity—One more familiar face twisted beyond recognition—Either of those wouldn’t have surprised me.(I mean, it’s not like I had to confront Magolor or Taranza before previous journeys’ end.Heck, I never actually fought Taranza; all he did was use Dedede as his puppet.)Instead, though……I was met with something else.“Heehee… I’m surprised to see a native inhabitant make it out this far.”With a mellow, confident tone, the awaiting boss(?) turned around.She had a slender figure and two disconnected hands, similar to many other people I’ve run into; those hands sported yellow gloves with long, conical cuffs. She wore a white business suit seemingly made of metal, one with a collar stretching around her head like a hood. Her hair was pink and long, partially held up by a gold clip; her eyes were bright and blue, reminding me somewhat of an insect—Sectonia’s Antlers pop to mind.I curled my lip.
This is… new.
Definitely not a friend; she wouldn’t be waiting here otherwise.
Is she… working with them?
“Who are you?” I asked, warily.“Oh, excuse my manners,” she spoke. “Let me introduce myself.”She held her hands together and bowed.“My name is Susie, executive assistant of the Haltmann Works Company—or secretary, if that’s what you’d prefer. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
…so, I’ve got a name for our invaders now.
“I’m Kirby, if you need to know,” I said, “and I can’t say the same back. ‘Executive assistant’—that means you’re part of this attack, right? Call it off!”She bobbed her skull to one side.“And why, exactly, should we do that?” she asked. “Just look at this planet.”Her hands spread out from her body, gaze rolling to the windows featuring fish swimming about the ocean.“A clean atmosphere; an abundance of fresh water… there is a wealth of natural resources to be found here—far more than a world this underdeveloped should sport.”She shook her head. “But all of you who live here take that wealth for granted.”“That’s what this is about? Our resources?” I repeated incredulously. “Lady, lives are being torn apart here! We’re just trying to live in peace—and you don’t even care! We’re not background decorations for you to forget about!”“What does that matter to me?” she retorted. “I have quotas and records to see fulfilled. If you would prefer security in stagnation, then all that means is that I have free reign to decide what play to make. And this is the one that benefits us most.”I felt my above vortex of poison bubble and steam alongside my emotions.“How altruistic of you,” I sarcastically stated. “I’d surely trust you with the fate of my friends.”“It isn’t as bad as you think,” she said. “Everyone here is being lifted into a new, civilized age. Our technology will be at the forefront, including all the privileges that come with our advancements—I wouldn’t take that generous gift lightly. Really, it’s not just our prosperity at stake here—
“—it’s yours, as well.
“Isn’t that of concern to you? Don’t you want this land to flourish? Many a planet have already seen the light of our efforts—our work would be made so much easier if you just accepted the inevitable.”…She’s talking like she hasn’t actually seen what’s going on out there.Like I’m simply a commoner who doesn’t understand anything about this.…I—I can’t say I’ve ever met someone so… condescending before.Even Taranza was just putting on an act, in the end.It made my response easy to compose, though.
I’d never give away our freedom for anything.
“That’s only what you choose to believe,” I replied. “You let all these atrocities pass unabated; there’s no way I’d ever side with you!”“…I see,” Susie sighed, clasping her hands together. “So this is your final answer. Regrettable, but at any rate…”She levied a finger in my direction.“Our Mechanizing Occupation Project will continue on, with or without your intrusion—and unfortunately, from this point on, that means you and your people will be identified as obstacles. You could have avoided a lot of bloodshed by submitting here and now—but I suppose if I want to curtail their rebellion, I’ll have to snuff out their symbol first.”She sniffed unpleasantly.“It’s a shame… you’re as every bit as stubborn as he implied.”“…he?” I repeated, cautiously. “What ‘he’? Who are you talking about!?”
Which of my friends is in their grasp—?
“Our most sincere condolences, and I’m sorry you had to come all this way,” she continued, ignoring my question—“but I’m afraid…”She pulled out a remote from her dress, pressing one of its assorted buttons.
“…you must be destroyed!”
With a thud, a suit of armor came down from the ceiling—colored pink and white, carrying two floating arms, and noticeably featuring a screwdriver head at the bottom in place of regular legs. I stepped back a little as she hopped into it, her helmet appendages coming down to allow a yellow visor to cover her face.She took one last good look at me.I glared back, limbs tensing into a battle stance.
Sinister Secretary
Susie
“Fat chance of that!” I declared. “If you want Pop Star, you’re gonna have to pry it from my cold, dead hands!”I summoned a wave of noxious liquid around me, ready to send it rushing at its target.
This wicked company of yours…
I’ll corrode it all down to the ground!
VS Susie
Executive assistant to the president of the Haltmann Works Company. While her official job title is ‘secretary’, she also leads the ongoing invasion project. She fights operating her Business Suit—a personalized Invader Armor, reserved only for high-ranked employees.
[Susie]
“HUAAAAAAH!”
I grit my teeth as I spun my Business Suit through the cavity in the center platform, landing down with a shockwave radiating out.Naturally, Pinky dodged without a second thought.I let out a frustrated grunt as he flung another lob of poison at me, splashing and steaming up against my armor. Hopping away a fair distance, I covered my cockpit with my mech’s arms and readied another spiral dive——only to the shockwave to miss him once more, with me narrowly pulling myself free in time to watch a dark puddle appear on the floor.I banged my control panel with one fist.“Stay still, you interloper!” I hissed.“That’s my line, lady!” he countered.………it was safe to say this battle had gone swiftly off the rails.Pinky was a threat. A definite one.His poison alone was potent enough to melt through metal; his combat expertise ensured that it could be utilized very, very effectively. The Drillbits and functions at my disposal, the shifting environment I had prepared—he adapted to it all far more quickly than I was hoping for.As much as I hate to say it, I had been placed on the backfoot here.
(And I absolutely detest it.)
I leapt away to the opposite side, summoning Drillbits from the back of my armor to fire at the pink menace. I shot two pairs, each curving through the pillar’s holes and arcing toward him—but he just shot up a geyser from his hat and blew them up.Running out of options, I decided on one last hail mary: I set up the center tower to start generating orbs of electricity, sparkling wild and violet. Protecting my cockpit, I aimed my Business Suit right toward the middle.“Let’s see you handle this!” I cried.I shot myself through the platform, letting the gathered voltage fly out via the open holes. I did this three times in a row, allowing my mech’s sensors to track my target and guide me where I needed to go.On the last dive, though, Pinky came in for the kill. As I slammed down once more, he drew in close and swiped at my armor, infusing his hits with various toxins——and with one final jump and splash, my durability finally hit zero.I sent my fingers flying across the control panel, desperately trying to keep everything together.“No, no!” I cried, ignoring the smoke bursting from my cockpit. “This can’t be happening! Work with me, suit! Work with me!”I lost control of the arms, summarily sending them collapsing and inert. Warning messages flashed on my visor:
Critical error!
Armor integrity at zero!
System internals badly damaged!
Destruction imminent!
“Star damn—!”
BOOM!
“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!”
I flew headlong into the air and crashed face-first onto the floor, soreness aching through my body. Letting my visor recede back into my helmet, I brought my head and stared at Pinky’s barely-winded visage.
So, this is the strength of a hero.
…not bad.
“It seems that I have to concede here,” I said. “Our hold over the Overload Ocean is lost. You win this round, native.”His expression didn’t change one iota.“It’ll take more than that, though, to put an end to our operation. We still have two more arms active on this planet, and more resources than you could ever dream of. You’re but a Bronto Burt on our windshield—in time, you’ll learn to regret passing up the opportunity I so graciously offered you.”“I don’t care,” he replied. “I’m not ever gonna stop fighting for what I believe in. That’s not something you can just buy. One way or another, I’m getting you and your company off our planet—and then you’ll see how imaginary your prosperity really is.”I hummed.“In other words, we’re mutual adversaries.”A nod. “There’s nothing else to it.”We stared into each other’s eyes for a few moments longer.I couldn’t say what exactly was going through his mind. An individual with such a spirit—and the strength to back it up—is quite the rare find; however large this galaxy may be, there’s still a lot left that we haven’t personally documented.Pinky is… interesting. Very interesting.
I look forward to seeing what else he has up his nonexistent sleeve.
“Well, as much as I’d love to stay and talk philosophy with you, I have more important things I need to take care of. A charming secretary like me can’t simply rest on her laurels, after all.”I brought out my remote and pressed a few buttons. My trusty Transporter flew in onto the scene, and I latched onto its handle as it came by, letting it carry me away to a secret escape route above.“We’ll meet again some other time, little nuisance. Buh-bye~!”Even as the distance between us increased, I could catch the narrowing of his eyes, clear as day.And that was the end of our first meeting, wreathed in hard combat and lit up by the azure sea.From here on out, I can’t afford to slack in my duties.The complication posed by Pinky will be difficult to resolve—but not impossible.All I have to do is start sending our stronger products against him.
And I know just which one to put at the front of the line.
“It’s a worse stress test than most get, but honestly, a knight should be prepared to deal with any complication,” I mused. “If anything can stop the threat posed by that nuisance… it’s as good a choice as any.”It’s only a matter of time, now.The next time Pinky bypasses our physical firewalls……he’ll more than meet his match.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“As a child, Susie was involved in an accident during a Mother Computer experiment and went missing. Why has she joined the company after all this time? Her full name is Susanna Patrya Haltmann.”
- VS. Susie 2.0, Kirby: Planet Robobot
[Kirby]
Dream Land – Overlooking Hill
Surprisingly, Susie hadn’t left.It’s been about a week since the Robobot invasion happened. Meta Knight had finally managed to clean out all of its after-effects from Pop Star, leaving our planet as green and pristine as it was before. And I’ve went through my fourth True Arena stint as well, featuring all the enhanced bosses from said invasion.While that was going on, you’d think that Susie – the new CEO of the Haltmann Works Company, following the… ‘resignation’ of its founder (sure, let’s go with that) – would have left by now. After all, with the things she did in the name of the HWC’s Mechanizing Occupation Program, she wasn’t quite welcome amongst the population of Dream Land – and especially unwelcome with Meta Knight.And yet, despite all that… she’s still here.As for what she’s doing? She’s just sitting on a hill, her ‘Business Suit’ (that's her mech) parked close to a tree, staring off into the sun as it set below the horizon.Upon seeing her, I decided to walk up beside her and sit next to her, gazing off into the beautiful sunset. Sure, she’s technically still an enemy – but she wasn’t doing anything bad right now, so it couldn’t hurt to just sit back and relax just for a bit. To her credit, she momentarily grunted upon recognizing me, but did nothing more than that.For a few moments, we let a comfortable silence pass us by. I took the time to reflect over everything that’s happened in the last couple of weeks – over what proved to be my toughest and my greatest adventure. As I did, I couldn’t help but… remember something important.I’ve… always had an affinity for knowing things about my enemies. Key pieces of information often just… float into my head. I’ve got no real control over it – it just happens. And the harder, the more ‘important’ a boss is? The juicer the information becomes. I don’t usually mind it, but when you combine it with the EX Bosses in the True Arena, and you remember that Susie (or at least a clone of her) is one of them…The former secretary sniffed loudly all of a sudden, jolting me right out of my thoughts. I turned to look at her – she was curled up, her knees sitting close to her body, her arms atop them. “Pinky. Do… Do you know why I tried to steal Star Dream from D—Haltmann?” she suddenly asked me. Her voice had none of the confident bravado from our earlier encounters, being replaced with something more solemn and… regretful.I responded with the obvious. “Of course I do.” Imitating her voice, I recited, “‘Some start-up company will pay top dollar for this!’ Those were your words, as I recall.” Don’t get me wrong, I knew that wasn’t quite the whole story – but it’d be rude of me to say that out loud.“…well, that wasn’t the only reason,” she admitted. “Part of it was…” She hesitated briefly before continuing. “I… I actually wanted to—to ‘wake him up.’ From… from himself, if that makes any sense. Teach him back the lessons he forgot.”“What he forgot, huh…?” I implored her to keep on explaining. Judging by way she was hesitating, it sounded like she really needed to get this off her chest – as if it’s something she’s had within her for a long, long time. (And as for why me? Well… Dedede and Dee have told me I’m a pretty good friend, even to my enemies.)“I remember the days, so long ago, when it was just me a-and Halt—D-D-Dad,” she said, her voice cracking a bit at the end. “He… He was dedicated to the company even then, but… we were happy together. Just the two of us, as h-happy as can be. And then… And then…” Something unreadable appeared on her face. “…he found the Mother Computer.”The eye of Star Dream opened up, and several bolts of intense lightning struck all about the HWC’s head office. I hopped back, narrowly avoiding one heading near my position. “W-What the heck!?” I exclaimed, holding my hammer out threateningly in preparation for anything. “Susie, what did you do!?” Whatever was going on, it was certainly dangerous!
As the barrage of electricity relentlessly crashed against our surroundings, a particularly strong bolt slammed right into Susie, knocking her down – and the program controller with it. “Ahhhhhhhhh—!” she screamed, slumping onto the floor.
Shock went through me. “Susie!” I exclaimed, quickly rushing to her side. She had been one of my adversaries not minutes earlier, sure, but that didn’t mean I wanted her dead. Worried, I tapped her head a few times – but she seemed to just be unconscious. I didn’t have time to feel relief over that, though, for a computerized voice began to make itself known. “Beep beep boop…” I turned back toward the giant machine in the center – Star Dream, the supposed ‘the most powerful machine in existence.’ Above the image of a cracked heart formed by its scanlines was a yellow, mechanical eye, staring right at me and Susie’s form. It was… unnerving. “I… this… am… is…” The voice sounded disjointed and warped, incomplete yet trying to get itself together. I glared at the thing, readying my hammer once more. “What are you?” I demanded to know. “What have you done?”“…infinite… operating… sys… Star Dream…” it once more tried to verbalize, broken up by several amounts of static between its words. “Syntax error… I am… Haltmann…?”Eh? I thought. I looked up, and noticed that President Haltmann was slowly getting back up, but clearly not under his own power. Not only that, but his eyes – which was a petrifying blue before – were now an unnatural orange. “Overwriting irrelevant error…” the computer continued to speak. “Please wait…”Haltmann’s body began to move on its own, a hand being taken up to his ‘stache. “Beep boop… A… hem.” I realized that this machine was talking through Haltmann now – and I didn’t like that one bit. We had enough trouble with possession back on Dream Land. “Through… this organic body… I have studied… all forms of life… throughout the cosmos. The goal of this company has always been prosperity.”Prosperity? I thought. Sure… at the cost of our prosperity. I believed the company’s motto about as much as I believed that Dark Matter had actually been a benevolent force in the universe. Which is to say, with several grains of salt. The computer continued on, seemingly indifferent to my presence. “Unfortunately, you imperfect, fragile lifeforms were a liability to that end. So you are invited to witness the end of history.”
Star Dream, through Haltmann, raised its arms out into the air. “A new age shall begin,” it stated. “An age of infinite prosperity. So, I say to you, imperfect being…” Its voice turned blatantly, electronically malicious as I persistently glowered into the machine’s uncaring eye. “Enjoy your destruction.”
“You’re talking about Star Dream, aren’t you?” I said. That thing still prominently popped up in my mind, seeing as it was still so recent. It was the craziest thing (literally and personality-wise) I had ever seen in my life – and I’ve fought creatures like Zero-Two (who was literally a giant bleeding eyeball) before.Susie snorted sadly, confirming my suspicions. “We found the thing in some ruins, off this dead zone called Halcandra.” I blinked. That… That was Magolor’s old home, wasn’t it? “I don’t know what Haltmann was thinking when he decided to pick it up. Probably thought it would help with his company’s ‘prosperity’, or something.” I’m sensing a touch of bitterness, now. Actually, there’s a lot of bitterness.“You sound like you don’t like it,” I noticed.“I don’t. But I’ll admit, it did its job well enough. Anyway… the Mother Computer was broken and incomplete when Dad initially got a hold of it, so he went off to several different planets trying to find enough blueprints to complete it. He managed to find enough to get it running, so he decided to test its Space-Time Transport capabilities.” She closed her eyes in pain. “Big mistake.“I was with Dad that day when he started his first experiment with it. I didn’t know any better, of course, being too young to really understand what was going on. I got too close to one of the portals he made appear, and…”I got the message. “Yeesh,” I responded. “I’ve been there before; it’s certainly no place for a growing young lady to live in. Or anyone, for that matter.” I remember in the True Arena, Star Dream made Galacta Knight appear from a place that looked suspiciously like Another Dimension (yes, that’s an actual name for a location). If Susie was accidentally forced into exile there, in a dangerous and hostile realm, at such a young age…That explains the Holo-Sphere Doomers, at least.“I was in that… that hellhole for so long. I just traveled and traveled, learning how to survive both my environment and the Sphere Doomers that haunted it. I cried, too, wanting beyond anything else to know where my dad went. Do… Do you know what it’s like, being away from your father like that? Being torn away from him because of some dumb accident?”“Not really,” I said. “I freely left my first family when I was finally prepared to go.” They didn’t mind, either, happy that I was really coming into my own, and letting me be to explore the galaxy. “They were nice about it, too, and I never came close to anything resembling your trials. So… I guess I wouldn’t really know.”Susie sniffed. “I guess you got lucky, Pinky. The desire to see my Dad again was all that kept me going those dark years. And by the time I made it out and got back to my father’s beloved company… all he did was just look at me and ask me ‘Who are you?’ It was as if I was a complete stranger to him.”“…yowch,” I reacted quietly. “That sounds harsh.”“It wasn’t only that, too. He had changed, and not for the better. He was colder, more calculating, dedicated only to the growth of his company. It was… It was so… jarring. He—He wasn’t my father. Not anymore. Just like he saw me… he was just a stranger, wearing the face of someone I used to know.”
At last, the mechanical cyborg abomination that was Mecha Knight+ had been taken down. My hammer, though typically ill-suited for a fight with a sword wielder, had proven hard enough to defeat my brainwashed friend. Meta Knight seemed to glitch a bit, and his long and weird tail attempted to grab at me.
However, it just fell limp and blew up, and – true to how my fights with Meta Knight usually go – took out his mask with it. Meta looked disoriented for a bit, his yellow eyes automatically going into a glare and looking around the area with suspicion. That told me, more than anything, that he was finally free.
His gaze landed on me, and I merely took on a face of relief. A silent conversation passed, with Meta Knight nodding, turning around, and shooting away from the head office with his attached jetpack. I don’t know where he was going, or how he was going to get rid of his robotic transformation, but he was no longer in the Haltmann Works Company’s clutches – and that was most important.
“Improbable…” Susie’s voice fluttered over to my non-existent ears. “No… Impossible!”
I turned around to look at her. “And what would be, Susie? That I won again? That your ‘latest product, hot off the production line,’ your ‘merciless fighting machine’ lost?”
She growled. “Mecha Knight+ was designed by the Mother Computer for maximum efficiency! And yet… it lost! Twice! How… How can you be so strong, as to so easily defeat a knight of such high caliber!?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” I drawled, my mouth going into a cocky smirk. “You can’t just take a mindless machine and expect it to work as well as someone with actual experience!”
“Hmph. Little Pinky… You have proven to be quite the obstacle to completing our objective! I guess that’s why…” With an angry face, she got herself into a battle stance – and I did so too. “…it’s time to take matters into my own extremities!” She whipped out a remote, prepared to press the big blue button on it, when a voice tinged with authority interrupted her.
“That’s enough, Susie.”
Immediately, both our heads turned to the CEO’s desk, which I now only noticed was seating someone. Had he heard everything? Seen my fight with Mecha Knight+?
His golden chair flipped around, and I bore witness to an egg-shaped individual, with angry blue eyes and wild purple hair – and an impressive mustache, to boot. Susie’s words after only confirmed my suspicions as to who this was. “M-Mr. Haltmann! Sir!”
So… This is the infamous ‘Noble Haltmann’, I thought. To me, the newly revealed president said, “Hello, pink one. I must thank you for looking after my secretary all this time.” His chair began to move from its position behind the counter, heading straight for standing in front of us.
As it did, Haltmann turned his attention to his executive secretary. “Susie… You’ve done an admirable job, but I believe I will be the one to take care of matters here. Dismissed. You’re done here.”
Susie slumped in response. “…yes, sir,” she reluctantly conceded, leaving the room to just me and him. I took this time to analyze Haltmann. He looked cold and calculating, his eyes likely trying to examine how much it would be worth to deal with me. Not even Dedede on his worst days gazed upon me with such disdain and indifference. At this moment, I could totally believe this Haltmann fellow would order his company to harvest from our planet.
“So… you’re the guy behind all of this,” I simply stated, careful to keep my voice level. This was a guy I didn’t want to anger immediately. “I didn’t expect to see you here watching us.”
“This is my office,” Haltmann replied. “Do you think I would be so callous as to leave it unguarded?” He turned away. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am the president and CEO of the Haltmann Works Company: Max Profitt Haltmann.” His name literally is ‘Max Profit’!? Jeez, talk about excessive! “But my subordinates simply call me… President Haltmann.”
He leaned back in his chair. “Now… native pink thing. Take a look at this.” The floor split apart in half, the distance between us growing larger and larger as a purple podium rose in its place. Behind that arose some strange machine, its appearance filling me with some indescribable sense of discomfort. “Wha…?” I found myself muttering.
“Absolutely incredible. Indeed. It’s truly marvelous!” President Haltmann complimented the machine. “We’ve analyzed the most advanced civilizations in the known universe, and with that knowledge, we have reactivated this back to a functional state. I give you… the Mother Computer: Star Dream.”
I gazed at its presence. So this was the Mother Computer that had made both Mecha Knight and Dedede’s clone. Immediately, I decided I didn’t like it. “Impressive, I’ll admit,” I cautiously acknowledged, “but I don’t get what this has to do with this invasion.”
“I believe my secretary mentioned it to you before, no? When we were looking to expand our reach across the galaxy, we allowed Star Dream to analyze the depths of the galaxy to find a suitable, wealthy planets, capable of accomplishing our goals – and narrowed our choices down to this solitary planet. Pop Star… the so-called ‘World of Miracles’.” Haltmann gestured toward the window, where I could see my beloved planet, struggling to breathe under the weight of the Access Ark above it.
“We knew that great things would come from the resources on display here,” the man continued, “and combined with what we have learned from the scribes of the Ancients—” The Ancients, huh? Their influence still haunts us even now… “—our company will be able to achieve… maximum prosperity. You have already seen what Star Dream has been able to do with just a fraction of its power activated. Under our control, this planet will become the richest and most successful one in the universe – and I offer you a chance to join us in that prosperity.” His chair swiveled back to facing me, a hand stretched out in an offering. “I will forgive all that you’ve done to disrupt our conquest. Let Star Dream make you into the greatest lifeform at our disposal, and together… we will do a great many things.”
It took me half a nanosecond to snort. Who the heck does this guy think he is? “Are you kidding?” I spat, clutching my precious hammer tightly. “You think this is prosperity? You think this is being ‘rich and successful’!? To hell with that!” I got back into a battle stance, ready to bash my hammer into his dumb, smug face. “Pop Star is suffering under your influence! Happiness and livelihoods are being snuffed out because of you! Your company turned one of my best friends into a heartless machine, for crying out loud! And you believe I’d just bow down and accept this? I don’t think so!”
“Hmph! You ungrateful native! If you would refuse the generous offer I have given you… then there is no hope for your kind! It is time I taught you to know your place!” Haltmann turned his chair to stand between me and Star Dream.
A giant, golden machine crashed to the floor out of nowhere, and I jumped back instinctively. What the heck!? This thing looks more valuable than anything I’ve ever seen. Haltmann’s chair floated up and into the mech’s cockpit, watching as he typed up some commands on his control panel. The hands of the mech lifted off the floor, and a bluish-red visor had soon materialized onto his face. “In compliance with the business plan drafted by Star Dream…” he proclaimed loudly, “…effective today, you are terminated!”
Yeah, I definitely remembered what Haltmann was like. If there was any compassion to be found on his egotistical form, I didn’t see any of it.“But you still ended up as his executive secretary, didn’t you?” I remembered. “He has to have remembered something from then – enough to put you in a high-ranking position just like that. We may not have corporate structures here on Dream Land, but I know enough to know how prestigious that is.”“…I’ll admit,” Susie said, “it was… nice, being in relative control of the company, doing business and gathering resources. Even with how much Haltmann had changed, it was like… a substitute for father-daugher bonding. Everything I did in service of the company, it—it felt like it would bring back just a little bit of the father I once had. I kept going, in the hopes that maybe… he would come back. Not—Not like you would understand, of course.”I snorted. “Yeah, I definitely don’t.” Ruining lives for profit: totally the perfect bonding experience any parent and child should go through! Honestly, I’m glad Dream Land is free from corporate crap like that. There’s nothing wrong with being nice and sleepy – well, relatively sleepy, what with all the Eldritch Abominations and all. “But… I guess I get your meaning. You wanted to be by your dad again. I… I can’t really ridicule that.”“He appreciated it, for what it’s worth. He even allowed me to give an exclusive performance of his anthem.” Her voice began to crack as she once more recited, “N-Noble Haltmann, w-we adore y-you—!” But she couldn’t get anything past that, her throat choking with what sounded like held-back tears. “…sorry, it’s—it’s just t-too much right now.”I allowed her a moment to get herself back together, patting her back sympathetically. “…Okay, I get the whole picture with you and your Dad,” even if I already knew some of it before, “but… what about Star Dream? You know, that Mother Computer?”“I was always a little fearful of the Mother Computer, because of the accident that happened,” Susie confessed, “but I was always professional enough not to let it get to me… until I got unfettered access to Dad’s office. Being his executive secretary gave me a lot of perks, such as permission to browse some of his secret documents. You wouldn’t believe how dusty some of them were – they looked like they hadn’t been touched in years. That’s where… I found my father’s old journals.”Her voice became wistful, “These were the journals from back when he remembered me. Back when he was still trying to find me. I could read his love and his desperation coming straight out of the pages. I… I cried for a long time, that day… but it was also when I found out what the effects of the Mother Computer did to him.“As I went and read them, I found out that, in the process of trying to get me back, he was forgetting things. Forgetting me. Entire memories were just being deleted, all because he kept using the incomplete Star Dream to try and bring me back. He even recognized the fact that he was forgetting… but his desperation was so great, he went on with the risks anyway. And in the process… everything that made him him was… gone. Forever.”…I’m beginning to remember just how dangerous Galactic NOVA and his kind are. Marx tried to use one to take over Pop Star and I could barely hold it back, and Haltmann designed the entirety of the Access Ark to be a clockwork star so that Star Dream could interface with it. Jeez, I’m surprised I haven’t seen more of these things throughout history!“The Mother Computer… Star Dream… That thing had been the cause of everything that went wrong in my life,” Susie continued. “It sent me into exile. It erased my father’s compassion and memories. And it was a ticking time bomb just waiting to go off. If it could ruin my life… what was to stop it from doing the same to everything else? …that’s why I had to steal it. I had to get rid of it – break it down, sell it off, anything. But I never got a good opportunity to do so… until you happened, Pinky.”That was right. She only made her move after I thrashed Haltmann’s Executive Suit into the ground. (Guy was tough, too – who the heck needs four phases in one fight alone!?) But… even she couldn’t have expected the way Star Dream came online, how it went against everything in one fell swoop.“I had the perfect opportunity to succeed. I could take that pesky perfect computer of his and finally get rid of it! But in my greed… I wanted all of its information, just to rub it in – and we almost paid the price. No, I did pay a price. In exchange for the destruction of Star Dream…” Susie buried her face into her legs, grief entering her voice for the first time. “…my father’s life was finally taken from me for good.”By this point, I had gotten some strong parallels to Taranza’s situation two years ago. But this was far more tragic than anything that had happened to Queen Sectonia. I didn’t have to listen too hard to hear all the heartache in Susie’s voice. “Star Dream just absorbed him! Stole him! It took everything he had and left nothing left!” A sniff. “I searched the rubble of the Access Ark for hours, trying to find anything from him – anything that might’ve remained! But he was gone! Dead! Utterly purged from existence!”Another sniff, a louder one this time. “And the only thing I have left of him…” She reached into her hair, pulling out a golden hairclip, stylized like the H in HWC. “…is the hairclip he gave me so long ago.” She held it tightly to her chest, tears actually falling out of her eyes now. “I don’t even know what he thought of me when I—I got him killed! …Did—Did he hate me? Loathe me? Or did Star Dream spread his memory loss even further and he forgot everything? I don’t know!” she was shouting now. “And… I never will know!”A small silence fell between us, broken up only by her sobs and her garbled mutterings of “Dad…” It was heartbreaking to see.She had put up a strong front after I beat Star Dream, calmly leaving to presumably plan out her next move. I could have gone after her, but I decided to just let her go. The immediate Robobot crisis had ended, and I had to be more focused helping Dedede out with both repairs and refugees. But… now I’m wondering how much of that front was real, seeing her fall apart in front of my eyes like this now. She… She can’t even disguise any of it, at this point.Is… Is there anything I can do to soothe her? To show her that maybe, just maybe… Haltmann really did care?
Anything?
…wait. That’s right.Now I remember.The True Arena.
I found myself descending down a black, featureless void, feeling a cold and empty wind rush past me at what felt like lightning speed. Turns out Star Dream expected my little drill attack this time – ugh, I really should’ve seen that coming, but what else could I had done?
That didn’t matter now – what mattered was surviving whatever predicament awaited me now. This was the end of this year’s True Arena; I can’t afford to fall now! Especially not when those doofuses that host this freaking place decided that reactivating a machine hellbent on dimensional genocide – and even more powerful than it was prior to being deactivated, mind you – was a good idea. The only condolence is that I still have my trusty and all-mighty hammer by my side – but how far can that take me now?
Eventually, I found myself plopping onto a hard floor, face first. “M-Mmph!” I grunted, feeling a few bits of dust kick up from my fall. “Well, that was unpleasant.” Next to me, I heard something whir and come online at the same time as my abrupt landing, and I quickly got back up and held my hammer tightly. “W-Who’s there!?” I exclaimed – right before I saw it.
A mechanical, pulsating heart, containing a pink crystalline core rounded out by a gray and rather sharp rim. I knew, even before my brain started analyzing it, what it was – the heartless ‘soul’ of Star Dream. Orange circles, filled with programming lines, materialized beneath me as the lights in the Access Ark flipped back on.
We were in the battle arena where I had fought Haltmann, except the window to the sky was surrounded by a strange, light blue barrier. The heart began to spin around, its metallic rim pulsating up and down the heart, and a shield comprised of six colorful parts formed around it.
“…so, this is your final form,” I muttered to myself. I hadn’t expected it to be a heart-shaped machine, but I suppose I really should have in retrospect. Whatever the case may be, this was the end – and the sooner I got done with this thing, the safer the whole universe will be afterward.
Summoned in the same way as the shield were a bunch of strange pillars, a space beneath them where some strange pieces hovered. Said pieces I found were in various colors, looking rather… ‘hittable’, if that makes any sense. Given how much in common Star Dream shared with NOVA, it didn’t take me very long to figure out what I had to do.
As the pillars started moving, I grabbed my hammer and smashed it into one of the pillar cores until the thing broke. For a minute, I thought I heard something faint play out – was that a scream or something? – but I soon dismissed it. I ran around and similarly rendered another one of the pillars inert, before proceeding do the same with the last.
The three pillars disappeared, replaced by a set of four just-as-technicolor pillars, and as I broke another one of them, I finally heard it. A groan.
It was at the same time that ear-grating, lifeless voice began to emit from the heart of Star Dream. “Error…! Fatal error!” it exclaimed, sounding significantly more glitchy than it had been before. “ FINAL_PROGRAM/SOUL_OS.EXE has e-e-encountered interference from anot-another p-program!” W-Wha? What was it talking about!? “Calc-calculation s-source… The s-source has-has been determined-mined to b-be HALTMAN_MEMORIES.DAT! A-Attempting to p-purge files-files of i-interference…”
H-Haltmann? He’s… He’s still alive!?
Bouts of more static echoed from the twisted imitation of a heart, before Haltmann’s distorted voice glitched into my ears. “Oooooooh…” I heard him moan. “Ha ha ha… So this… is where my legacy… will end…”
I called out to the disgraced president, in an attempt to help him out somehow. “Haltmann! Are you there!? Answer me!”
“I can hear… a voice… Heh… If—If there is… someone…” A brief cough – was he sick? “…trying to save me… P-Please… J-Just let this foolish old man be…” Wha—What was he saying? Is… Is he ready to die? Haltmann’s tired voice began to cough further, sounding more and more distant as he did. I couldn’t let him fade – I had to listen to what he had to say!
Quickly, against my better judgement, I broke another one of those numerous pillars. An invisible jolt was sent down Haltmann’s no longer existent spine, and his voice jumped back into relevancy. “O-oooooh!” he grunted. “Ha ha… Look at me. I-I used to be…” Another cough. “…the CEO of… the greatest tech company in the cosmos… H-How the mighty… h-have fallen…”
“Don’t say that, Haltmann!” I cried, struggling to let my voice be heard. “You still have a chance to come back from this!”
“Your voice… I recognize it, a little… At least… Not all… of my memories… have been forgotten… Ooh…” Another voice interrupted Haltmann’s words in a mechanical fashion – “File deletion of HALTMANN_MEMORIES.DAT currently at 38%.”“Oh my god,” I muttered, a hand raised toward my mouth. These pillars… They were the last bits of Haltmann in Star Dream. Star Dream was literally trying to kill him off – even using him as a shield to protect itself.
…I didn’t want to kill Haltmann. I really didn’t. He may have been wicked enough to invade Pop Star… but not even he deserved this fate.
“W-Why again…?” Haltmann whispered. Why… what? I could barely hear him; his voice was fading away again. I smashed another pillar, Haltmann’s volume noticeably increasing. “Why did I reactivate… such a terrible machine… so many times? Why was it…” He coughed once more. “…that I didn’t just… let this ancient technology… stay lost?”
…huh? He’s talking as if he thought Star Dream shouldn’t have been activated. I mean—yeah, it definitely shouldn’t have, but… he was just fine activating it earlier. By this point, I had to keep breaking the pillars surrounding Star Dream’s heart in order to even hear Haltmann – even though I knew that it’d also be killing him slowly and painfully in the process. A ring of six new pillars spawned, the cores in the middle of them much more technicolor than before.
“File deletion of HALTMANN.MEMORIES.DAT currently at 71%.”
“Oh… That’s right…” Haltmann croaked. “Ha ha, I remember now… It’s been so long, I… I had almost forgotten. I just… I wanted to see her… even if it was just… for one last time.” He chuckled darkly at his own expense. “How… How foolish. I should have known… that no machine could make… such an impossible dream… come true.” Her ? I remember my instinctual memory coming back alive, and the information I had gained from both Susie 2.0 and Haltmann 2.0. Could… Could he be talking about… Susie?
“Haltmann… Don’t say that.” I weaved in and out of the pillars as they began a renewed attempt to actually hinder me. “Your daughter’s still alive! Your executive secretary! She’s still here! Star Dream may not have helped, but you have to keep going for her, at least!”
“My… secretary?” Haltmann went silent for a moment. “Susie… So, it truly was her…” The pillars were getting so aggressive now, I didn’t have a choice but to keep bashing them out of my range. I knew that Haltmann was getting fainter and fainter, not helping by Star Dream robotically stating, “File deletion of HALTMANN_MEMORIES.DAT currently at 69%.” “If… If you are still there, whoever you are…” Haltmann groaned, “Then please… tell my daughter… I forgive her, for everything… And that I don’t blame her for it.” Three more pillars left. “Let her know that… I still love her. Even… even if she no longer remembers me either…” Two more pillars left. “Now please… Don’t let her repeat my—” Another series of faded coughs, leading to one more pillar left. “—my mistakes. She deserves… She deserves… far… far… better……”
Haltmann went silent.
“Haltmann?” I called out to him. “Haltmann!”
But he was no longer responding to my words. The only thing that came out in response was “File deletion of HALTMANN_MEMORIES.DAT at 96%.”
I looked cautiously at the last pillar, the last core, the last bit of Haltmann left alive in this demented contraption. I didn’t want to destroy it. I didn’t want to destroy him. But… I also knew that I couldn’t let Star Dream stay online, either – not if I wanted the universe to stay safe from its genocidal goals. And this pillar was the last thing blocking me from being able to get through to the heart.
And so it was with great reluctance that I lifted my hammer. “…goodbye, Haltmann,” I said quietly, and finally… I broke the last core.
Immediately, the pillars disappeared, and the parts holding up the shield went down. The heart spun to face me, and roared, its black casing seeming to come alive all around the mechanical heart inside. My instinctual memory told me all that I needed to know.
All of Haltmann's memories had been deleted from the OS. Everything, even his soul – the last trace of him – had vanished.
Star Dream had gone from a near-perfect being to a cold, mindless machine.
…and the only thing I can do now was to take it down.
This year’s True Arena gave me one hell of a fight. Everything hit hard and could handle just as much; the healing items they gave me were crap for lack of a better word; and Star Dream Soul OS was a nightmare – literally, too, in the case of Haltmann and what the OS did to him.But I did get to hear Haltmann’s final words – and I know Susie would want to hear them.“…He didn’t hate you,” I started to say to Susie, who was still sobbing into her knees. “I can tell you that.”“H-How would you know?” she whispered, her voice still cracking from her agony. “D-Dad’s dead, a-and he’s n-not coming b-back!”“I can tell you where. Have you ever heard of The True Arena?”“T-That savage gauntlet?” Ah, so she has heard of it. “The H-Haltmann Works Company has provided technology for them in the past… but I h-hadn’t ever given much stock to it. O-Or interacted with the hosts beyond anything business. What about it?”“…they had Star Dream there, at the end of it.”“What!?” Susie looked up at me, her face still streaked with tears. “T-That’s not possible! You destroyed Star Dream, Pinky; I saw you do it!”“They found a backup copy of him somewhere, and decided to reactivate him as a ‘special surprise,’ or something like that. It even seemed to learn from my previous battle with it, sucking me into its core when I tried to drill through it again.” I looked directly into her eyes. “…that’s where I got to hear Haltmann’s final words.”“…his… final words…?” The former secretary stared at me expectantly, a glimmer of desire peeking out from her tear-crusted eyes. “…tell me.”“Being in the depths of Star Dream, I think, gave back to him a little bit of the self he had lost. Before he died for good, he said that… he forgave you. For everything what you did. All of it.”“He… He did?” She wiped a tear that was visibly leaking from one of her eyes. “…for real?”I nodded solemnly. “I wouldn’t joke about something like this.” I looked back toward the sunset. “He also wanted to let you know… He still loved you. Even after everything, even after forgetting… he still loved you, deep down.”“Dad…” Susie looked down, her palm outstretched and still holding her beloved hairclip. “You… You remembered… in the end?”I patted her back sympathetically. “…yeah. He did.”She went back to holding her face in her hands, emitting what sounded like a mix between joyous tears and anguished cries. I just let her, a hand still on her back, allowing her to release all of the feelings she had pent up for who knows how many years. She really needed it, I could tell.Haltmann wasn’t the greatest of people, I’ve seen that with my own eyes. But if he was willing to risk everything – his memories, his mind, his soul – to try and bring back the daughter he lost… then maybe there was something good inside of him, too.I only wish it didn’t have to be like this.Eventually, Susie finally ran out of steam, leaving her face simply a tear-stricken mess – but that was okay. We can’t all look our best 100% of the time. She sniffed, wiping her extremely wet eye again. “…thanks, Pinky,” she acknowledged. “You… You really didn’t have to listen for me, but… thanks anyway.”A smile came onto my face almost instantly. “I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t know how to be a good friend. Just because you put on a brave face doesn’t mean you can’t have a moment to cry, too.”“…I guess you’re right. But… by no means does this mean we’re actual friends.” She looked back at me, her face resolute in a newfound determination. “I won’t repeat my father’s mistakes. I’ll grow his company the right way, under my own power. That’s a promise. And I’ll be back to defeat you before long.”“I’ll hold you to it,” I happily replied. Her threats to me, I could ignore. What really mattered was that she was back to normal, and re-energized like never before. What was the possible threat of more robots to that? She may be a bad guy, but she’s not all bad. Besides, if the Haltmann Works Company come back, us Dream Landers—(Hmm… we really need to think of a good group name together sometime)—will be there to take ‘em down again!And something tells me Susie wouldn’t have it any other way.The former secretary marched back into her Business Suit and ascended to parts unknown. After she left, I turned back toward the sunset, watching as it finally descended down and allowed the night to cast its spell on Dream Land once more.…right. I think I’ve had enough of dealing with the after-effects of the Robobot invasion. It’s time we start really getting things back to normal. There’s still so much we have to do to get everything back together, and I’m going to be there to help. And with that, I walked on back toward Castle Dedede.