Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

10 years ago…

“Please leave your message after the tone.”

“Hey Kate, it's-” A male voice began. “It's me. I'm going in tonight. Seems they've upped their security since my last few visits.” He said. “It's a good thing though, means we're on to something.”

As he was leaving his message, he stared at a TV. Said TV began to play footage of all the colored tapes Mario's team discovered when they first started this investigation.

“I'll meet you at the regular spot, at the regular time, for the hand off.” The footage he was watching then showed the last colored tape Mario's team found at Kensdale's Public Library. “I got a good feeling about tonight,” The man continued his voice message. “Think I'm close to something big.”

A pause. “Alright, I'll see you in a few hours.”

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A lightbulb was seen swinging in what appeared to be a dark hallway. A voice of a security guard spoke up. “Excuse me, sir.”

“Frick.” The man who left the message cursed.

“Yeah, just gotta see your access card, as it's after hours.”

The lightbulb began to swing faster.

“Sir?” The guard questioned.

The man began to run for it.

“Hey! Hey stop right there!” The guard chased after him. “We've got a code 13 in C-wing, requesting backup.” He called into his walkie-talkie.

“Copy that, backup dispatching to C-wing.” The dispatcher replied.

“Roger, let's find this rat.” The guard said.

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Once the man was sure he was in the clear, he stopped running. “Whew… okay.” He looked around, finding himself by a door. “That's gotta lead to the security room.”

He began searching the area, finding dark hallways and tons of closed and obvious locked doors.

When he did find an open door, it lead to what looked like an office space. He saw desks with computers and chair, what looked like a small kitchen, and a room connected with this one that lead to where meetings would take place.

There was a small gate that was placed in between the kitchen and the office. On the fridge, was a chain and a padlock.

Why would there be a chain and padlock for a fridge was anyone's guess. Though it was obvious it couldn't be anything good.

There also seemed to be several toys laying around.

Inside the meeting room, he found a key card. He picked it up. “Hm, where will you take me?” He asked himself.

He decided to return to the door he saw earlier, using the key card on it. Sure enough, it worked, and the doors opened.

However, as soon as it did, someone on the speakers began to announce something. “Attention Hameln employees: We've been notified that an unwelcome person has entered into the C-wing.”

As the announcement was being made, the man looked inside the room. It contained hordes of what appeared to be machinery. But not just any kind of machinery. The kinds you would see in those Sci-Fi movies about people being put in human size tubes so they could freeze their bodies for centuries.

“Please stay vigilant as you continue your night shifts, and report any and all suspicious activity to a Hameln Happiness Protector immediately.” The announcement went on. “Thank you.”

The man turned his head sharply noticing that the door behind him closed. The jingle of Hameln began playing over the speakers.

There was no going back. The man was trapped in this room, so he was going to do what he can. He turned back to the machinery, walking forward until he came across another room.

This one had hordes of TV screens.

“Here we go.” He murmured to himself.

Each of the screens had wall of colors, static, or were showing a gray screen of a background that was in the Amanda the Adventurer show.

One screen however, had what appeared to be coding of some sort. Another screen had the show itself. It seemed to be on pause.

The man looked at all of the screens, before moving his head towards the one that had the show on pause. “Let's see what we can find.” He whispered.

The screen had Amanda and Wooly standing in the middle of what looked like a different part of the neighborhood.

Two buildings were seen on each side of the TV, with two trees that had eyes behind them. The two stars of the show were looking at something.

The man took out a red tape, inserting it into the VCR.

He turned his attention to the screen that had the coding. He saw how the text changed. “Backup ready, begin reel to start process. Huh.” He commented.

He tilted his head, trying to figure it out, until he was jump scared by Amanda herself. “Hi! I'm Amanda!” She shouted loudly, the show suddenly playing by itself.

The man flung himself back, falling to the floor. “Jesus.”

He saw the hostess was close to the camera, she then moved away, the camera showing something similar to what it was paused at earlier.

“And I'm Wooly!” Wooly introduced.

The man stood up, getting close to the screen.

“Today, we're on a super secret spy scavenger hunt!” Amanda revealed, Wooly was staring at her with a smile, he then lifted up a piece of paper to the screen, then lowered it while returning his gaze to the cartoon girl.

“A scavenger hunt is a game where you try to find all the things on a list.” Amanda explained while Wooly lifted up the paper again, then lowering it down.

Amanda began to walk off screen, moving her hand to show the audience to follow. “Come on! Let's go!”

Wooly quickly ran to join her. The camera moved it's focus to another part of the neighborhood.

Now two two buildings. One with a triangle roof, and the other with a flat roof.

A swing set with eyes was in between the two houses.

There was also a tree next to the flat roof home, and two bushes in front of the triangle roof home.

A fire hydrant was also there. Each of these items had eyes on them. And they were swaying left and right.

Amanda stood in the streets as Wooly caught up, remaining on the sidewalk, standing in front of the flat roof building.

Amanda turned to the screen. Her hands were on her hips. “Are you ready to start the hunt?” She asked, lifting an arm into the air.

She lowered her arm. “Whoever finds everything wins the prize!”

Wooly spoke up. “The first thing on our list is a purple hydrant.”

Both he and Amanda began looking around. “Hmm…”

The hostess looked at the screen. “Do you see a purple fire hydrant?”

“Uhhh, it's- it's right there.” The man said.

“Good job!” Amanda cheered. “I see it over there!” She turned and pointed to the hydrant behind her.

She turned to the sheep. “Wooly, check the purple fire hydrant off our list.”

He did just that, his stare at the paper in his hands. Static then played.

“The next thing on the list is… a door with three windows.” He lifted up his head, giving a slight nod.

Amanda turned to the screen. “Can you help us find a door with three windows?”

Suddenly, an alarm went off. “Threat Detected.” A voice on a speaker announced.

“Damn.” The man grumbled, backing away from the screen.

“Security lockdown protocol initiated.” The speaker continued. The room was now covered in a red tint.

“That is not good.” The man whispered, walking out of the room.

“Please remain calm. Authorized Hameln employees should follow the security lockdown deactivation procedure if they wish to deactivate the security lockdown protocol.” The speaker announced.

Muffled alarms, sirens, and beeps were heard.

The man made his way to the tubes, suddenly getting a gut feeling that he had to investigate. Looking at the machinery, he saw how each of them had a picture. One of them being three windows.

Following the wire, he found the correct lever, giving it a pull. He returned to the room, noticing the screen was covered in static.

He approached the screen, where it continued to play.

“I found it!” Amanda cheered. She and Wooly were now in front of the door with three windows. “A door with three windows!”

She turned to Wooly. “Cross it off the list.”

Wooly moved his head to the list, checking it off, giving the hostess a nod after completing it.

Both turned to the screen. “Great work super secret spy team! This is fun!”

They turned their heads to the side, where the camera then moved its focus to yet another part of the neighborhood.

This one only had one building and one tree. Both with eyes and swaying left and right as the cartoon duo walked into frame.

“Ok Wooly,” Amanda began, stopping in front of the building. “What's next?” She asked him, looking in his direction.

Wooly looked at the list. “An old sock.”

Amanda half closed her eyes while Wooly grimaced. “Gross.” He commented.

“Well, if it's on the list, we have to find it!” She and her sheep friend looked at the screen. “Can you help us?”

The man moved away from the TV. He returned to the area again, retracing his steps until he found the right lever that connected to the picture with the sock.

After giving it a pull, he went back to the screen room.

Static covered the screen. The show continued.

“Here it is!” Wooly said. “A smelly old sock!”

Amanda covered her nose. “Pee-u!” She looked to the side again.

The camera transitioned to another area. A triangle roof home was there. It had a brown fence next to it. A tree and trash bin were also there. Everything except the fence had eyes and was swaying.

Amanda and Wooly walked into frame. Slight bits of static tried to cover the screen as the hostess was acting curious. She moved her attention to the sheep. “Ok, what's the next thing on the list, Wooly?”

Wooly looked at the list. His voice became confused. “A… a stray dog?” He looked up at the cartoon girl.

Barking and growling was heard.

Amanda searched around for it, then looked at the camera while Wooly had a worried look. “Do you see a nice stray doggy anywhere?” She questioned.

Behind her, next to the building, a brown dog appeared. The man moved away from the screen and repeated his steps yet again.

However, this time, after pulling the lever, he heard the muffled frustrated voices from guards. “Damn it!” The guard shouted. “We've got an active lockdown in room Echo 7!” He heard him say. “I need someone with clearance level 4 down here now!”

The man returned to the screen room.

“Roger, sending someone down now.” He heard a dispatcher say.

“Tell them to hustle!” The guard replied.

The man had to hurry. There wasn't much time left. Looking at the screen with the coding, he saw how the bar was almost full.

He returned his gaze to the screen. Static played and the show went on.

Amanda looked behind her as the dog approached. “Look at the sweet puppy!” She extended her hands to it, glancing at the camera for a bit then returning to look at the dog. “We found him!”

She began getting close as the dog began growling aggressively. He suddenly took off, barking as he ran.

Amanda watched the dog leave, before Wooly spoke up. “This scavenger hunt is fun!” His ears went up with joy. “Let's see what's next.”

Like the other times, Amanda moved her gaze to the side and the screen transitioned yet again.

Another triangle roof building, a bench, a tree, a grill, and an electric pole were there. All with eyes and swaying.

The cartoon duo appeared. Amanda stopped near the pole. “Wooly, what is it?”

Wooly looked at the list. “We're looking for a sparking snake.”

They looked around. Amanda turned to the screen. “Do you see a sparking snake around here?”

The man moved away, repeating his steps. After pulling the lever, he went back. Static covered the screen and the show went on.

Amanda and Wooly were now staring at the electric wire that was laying on the floor. It was from the electric pole.

Static covered the screen again, and it showed Wooly getting electrocuted by the wire while Amanda didn't move.

The man moved away from the screen. “Almost there.” He commented when seeing the screen that had the coding.

“We're coming for you, you little rat!” He heard the guard yell.

The tape ejected. “Got it!” The man softly cheered.

“Open the door!” The guard ordered.

He sharply turned his attention to the doorway. “Aw hell!” He whispered. He turned to what appeared to be an elevator.

“Go go go! he security room!” The guard commanded.

“Damn this place.” The man muttered, putting the tape away.

“Going down huh?” He heard the guard asking from behind him.

The man was screwed. There was nowhere to run or hide. “Now, j-just hold on, I can expla-”

====================================

Present day…

“Guys,” Joanne began. “Take these, and get out of here.” She placed a nameless tape on the table, which Mario grabbed.

“But Joanne-”

“Go!” She interrupted Mandy. “I'll be right behind you. I promise.”

“There is no right behind you! You're going with us right now!”

“Hurry children.” Luigi ordered.

Once inside the bunker, they turned, only for the lights to suddenly go out.

“What's happening?” Lucas asked.

A tiny light became visible and the group got a glimpse of what was in the room. It was a monster similar to the one that Amanda seemed to control.

It was sniffing around, searching for them.

Muriel gasped. “...Wooly?”

The monster moved its head towards them, charging while snarling and roaring.

“Wooly!” Muriel cried when the shelves slammed shut.

“Quicky! We have to get out of here!” Mario ordered.

Bowser unlocked the bunker door. “Go kids!”

“Come on! We have to hurry!” Mort shouted.

“That was Wooly! It had to have been Wooly!” His best friend cried.

“Doesn't matter right now! He wants to kill us! We have to run!”

Roaring and thudding was heard while the group climbed down the ladder. 

Mandy slammed the bunker shut.

“Is everyone here?” Mario asked.

“Yeah. We're all here.”

“Where do we go now?” Lucina asked.

“I don't know. But as long as we stick together and find a way out of here, we'll figure things out.” Mario said.

“I… I don't know what to think.” Muriel spoke. “If that really was Wooly… then he's… he's similar to Amanda… and yet the way I treated her! What if Wooly is secretly the same?!”

“Shh, shh, it's okay.” Robin tried to soothe her. “Right now, we have to focus on escaping. I'll help light the way.”

“Be glad I dragged you! Otherwise you could've died! Why did you wanted to stay behind?!”

“I wasn't going to stay behind! I just wanted you all to get to safety first!”

“Silence you two.” Mario ordered. “We don't have time for this. No more time to waste. Let's get moving.”

“The package didn't lose anything did it?” Mort asked.

“No. Everything's still inside and undamaged.” Luigi reassured him, hearing him sigh with relief.

Seeing his best friend still upset, he held her free hand. She looked at him, seeing his comforting smile.

A smile that told her things were going to be alright. That they were going to solve this and get her favorite sheep out of the screen.

As they began walking, all of the Smash Brothers fighters had on goal in mind.

Find Rebecca. Find Amanda and Wooly. Find Them.

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“The threat is no longer around, all employees may return to their regular shifts.” The speaker announced.

Iggy and Riley exited the small space, the hidden door closing behind them. “Phew! Feels great having space!” He stretched his arms.

“Iggy,” Riley began.

He turned to them. “Yeah?”

“What did you mean when you said that bad people want to take you away?”

“Mr. Hameln says that.”

“Why does he tell you that?”

“Because he says that there's a group of people out there who want to steal me to horrible things to me.”

Riley felt her heart squeeze. “Because you're different?”

Iggy nodded. “Mr. Hameln told me that he found me when I was a baby,” he made his way to the bed, climbing on. “That I was heavily injured, so he and John brought me here and healed me. Then they decided to raise me.”

Riley sat next to the Koopaling. They could tell that he was struggling to believe what he was told.

“They say I grew up here. That I never made friends in the outside world, or that I met any other kids. But if that were true, then why do I fully remember Lemmy?”

Riley wanted to tell him the truth, but their eyes moved to the camera. They had to keep quiet until they could find a way to remove it.

The gave the Koopaling a head rub. “I'm sure you'll get your answers.”

“That's what I'm wishing.”

“What was it like? Growing up here?” Riley asked.

“Sometimes my memories feel foggy, other times they feel clear. So I can’t really answer that.” Iggy confessed.

“Okay, how about you tell me what you can remember?”

Iggy let out a yawn. “Maybe tomorrow. I'm tired after telling you all those stories.” He rubbed his eyes tiredly.

“Alright. Let's get you to bed.” Riley stood up, helping Iggy get comfy tucking him in with a warm smile. “Goodnight Iggy, sleep well.”

As Riley was about to leave, they felt Iggy grab their sleeve. “Yes?” They asked.

“Can… can you sleep here?”

Riley didn't respond.

“I-I don't like sleeping alone. I'm used to having a sleeping buddy. Which is Lemmy. But since he's…”

Riley could see tears forming in the Koopaling's eyes, his hand was trembling. They knelt down, holding their hand gently. “It's okay. You don't need to finish.”

He sniffed. “So, can you sleep here tonight?”

They nodded. “Of course.” They watched as Iggy made room for them to lay down. After getting comfortable, they covered themselves with the blanket.

Iggy let out another yawn, scooting closer. “I know we just met, but you seem nice.”

Riley smiled, stroking his hair. “Trust me, even though we just met, I know for a fact that I want to protect you at all cost.”

“Aww, that's sweet!” Iggy beamed. He closed his eyes. “Goodnight Riley.”

“Goodnight Iggy. Sweet dreams.”

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When Link, King Dedede, and Meta Knight returned to the hotel, they were informed of everything.

Link then told them about how he and the others told the police officers everything they learned. How they were going to look into it, offering them protection for the night, which the Hyrule hero accepted.

“What are we going to do about the stadium?” Pit had asked.

“We're going to have to rebuild it from scratch.” Chrom told him.

“It's going to take a long time, but we can do it.” Peach tried to encourage them.

Shortly afterwards, they decided to call it a night. However, while almost all the fighters were able to sleep, the older Koopalings couldn't.

Ludwig in particular refused to sleep. His younger brothers were in trouble. Not only that, they were trapped in those cursed tapes!

He wasn't going to let that slide. He had to do something. Even if it meant putting himself at risk.

Since he knew he wasn't going to sleep, he decided to take a walk around the hotel, hoping to clear his head.

On the walk, he heard Chrom being awoken. He could hear the panic shouts of Wario, hearing what sounded like gunshots and Ridley roaring.

(What in the world is going on?!) He thought. Being a Koopling, he decided to put his ear against the door.

He could hear Wario explaining to Chrom about the bloodshed that was happening. How Snake and Bayonetta were inside looking around.

Wario revealed how the building went into lockdown mode, trapping the two inside, which got Ridley to attack.

Shortly afterwards, the call ended.

Ludwig stepped away from the door. “We can't sit around anymore.” He ran back to his room that he was sharing with his siblings.

As he did so, Chrom saw a message from Luigi appearing. He was asking where they were. He sent a reply, putting his phone back to sleep and laying back down.

Back with Ludwig, he quietly closed the door behind him before waking up the others, much to their dismay.

“Is it morning already?” Wendy asked with annoyance.

“No. But-”

“Then don’t disrupt my beauty sleep!”

“You're going to need centuries for the beauty part to take affect.”

Roy Koopaling reached for his shades, putting them on and witnessing a fight cloud next to his bed.

“Would you two knock it off?!” He shouted, getting out of bed. He entered the fight cloud, shoving his siblings away from each other. 

“He started it!” Wendy pointed.

“I wouldn't have if you didn't interrupted me!”

“Alright!” Roy Koopaling yelled. “First, why did you wake us up?” He asked the eldest Koopaling.

“Because we have to do something.” He answered. “Our younger brothers need us. We can't just sit around and do nothing!”

“Well it's not like we're capable of doing anything to begin with!” Wendy argued. “What are we supposed to do?! Get our clown cars, figure out where the facility is, sneak out, and then break in and find our brothers?!”

Both Roy Koopaling and Wendy could see the hint of shine in Ludwig’s eyes.

“I wasn't being serious!” She yelled. “We're NOT doing that! Besides, only Chrom knows the location! And he gave it to Ridley! So it's not like we can head there anyway!”

“So you think waiting while our younger brothers suffer is better?”

“It doesn't matter what we do!”

“Stop!” The second eldest Koopaling ordered. “Ludwig, we're not going with your crazy plan. There's not way it would work!”

“We don't know unless we try!”

“No!” Both shouted.

“Well if you two won't join me, then I'll do it solo!”

“ABSOLUTELY NOT!” Wendy shrieked.

“Then we either do this together, or I do it alone!”

“Why you-!”

“Wendy!” Roy Koopaling stopped her from creating a second fight cloud. “There's no way out of this. We might as well give in.”

“First, we need to figure out how to get the location of where the facility is.” Ludwig tried to think of something. “If we can convince Chrom to send us the location-”

“Can't we wait until morning?” The second eldest wondered. “After everything that happened, I just want to sleep!”

“I agree!” Wendy placed her hands on her hips. “Let's at least talk about this in the morning. It'll be better if we plan after a well deserved sleep.”

“Fine. But I'm being serious.” Ludwig warned. “We either do this together, or I'm going solo. There's no in between.”

“Ludwig, we get that you're worried, but we shouldn't just charge head first!” Roy Koopaling advised. “I mean, if Mario discovered that Larry was inserted into the tapes, can you imagine how dad felt?!”

The eldest felt their body jolt.

“Don't get me wrong, I'm dead worried too.”

“So am I.” Wendy sighed.

“But we have to be careful with this. One wrong move, and Hameln will be setting this hotel on fire!” Roy Koopaling warned. “Which is why we really need to think about this.”

“Since we weren't lured away, but knocked out instead, does that mean Hameln wasn't after us?” Wendy wondered.

“It's probably because of our ages.” Ludwig theorized.

“My question is… how do they know our ages?” Wendy asked, a bit unnerved.

“Let's not think about that.” The second eldest Koopaling suggested. “For now, let's get some sleep, and continue this in the morning.” He climbed back to bed, removing his shades and laying back down.

“Do you think they might have information on us?” Ludwig whispered to his sister.

“If they do, it would explain how they knew which Koopaling to target.” She whispered back to him, returning to bed.

Ludwig sighed, going back to his bed. He stared at the ceiling. He could hear Roy Koopaling snoring.

For once, it wouldn't be his snoring that'll keep him up all night.

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Mr. Hameln scoffed after witnessing the bloodshed. “Pathetic waste of employees.” He stood up from his chair. “Such a shame Victoria was lost. She was so helpful in researching demons and entities.” He chuckled, not really caring.

He turned his chair, the chair he had to get back after tossing it out the window. “Now, what were you saying Ricardo?”

The employee handed him a folder of reports. The latest one being the first one the boss saw.

As his boss read it, he began explaining. “Things are apparently going well, according to what's been written, but the computer has detected a large increase of times the lamb was entered the room claiming to prepare a report, but never delivers or requests a meeting.”

Mr. Hameln lifted an eyebrow. “I wonder why that is.”

“From what the computer has detected in their world, both he and your Experiment have been discussing about their Entities. I believe the lamb is starting to learn about his, reports say they've tried summoning it last night.” He tapped on that part of the report. “It was caught that our Experiment even send her demon to watch over the remaining subjects you want.”

Mr. Hameln continued reading the reports.

“Which means these kids really have the two wrapped around their fingers. But with the unexplained entries of the room without reports to follow, do you think… he's hiding something from us?” Ricardo hesitated.

“I would suggest summoning him, but that won't do.” He closed the folder. “Talk to Stephanie. Ask her to dig through the lamb's memories. That should give us an insight to what's been going on.”

“Right away sir.” Ricardo nodded. “I'll return if we find anything of interest.” He left the office.

The CEO stared at the folder left behind, smirking. “If he dares to hide anything, then it shows how forgettable he is.” He connected his hands together while placing his elbows on his desk. “Since he was created by us without a physical body, that also means we have access to all his memories with the click of a button.”

He chuckled, only to flinch hard when the door to his office was slammed opened. “We got trouble!”

“If you're referring to the massacre that happened at our facility, I already know.” The CEO dug inside his desk, taking out a shot glass and a bottle of alcohol. “We need to level up our security once again. Just like we did ten years ago.”

“Well, it’s not that.”

“Then what is it?” He was already impatient.

“More of our work has been leaked.”

It was a true Kiss of God that John was able to avoid the flying alcohol bottle that was launched right at his head. The glass shards exploded all over the room, the toxic liquid was now spilled everywhere.

On the wall, the floor, the door, small bits even landed on John.

“I dare you to say that again.” He snarled.

John stood up straight. He wasn’t too surprised by that reaction. He was expecting it. He went to his desk, showing him his phone.

Mr. Hameln stared at the screen. He watched the tapes they tried to get rid of being played right on the website.

The amount of views that it got was more than alarming. While several comments were saying they didn't believe it, the majority were people from Kensdale.

Several saying how these tapes would explain the disappearing children, others admitting how they never trusted Hameln, and a few telling their stories about how their kids or siblings went missing.

The most concerning ones, were the ones who brought up Kate and Sam.

Mr. Hameln let out a fury roar, not caring if he destroyed John's phone right then and there. Which was exactly what he did. He flung the device to the ground, using the small heel of his shoe to crush it.

“Who is leaking this?!” He yelled. “Why hasn't neither Anthony nor Aubrey came to me with the IP address?!”

“I don't think they found it yet.” John believed. “But I could check.”

“Tell them if they fail, they'll be sacrificed to whatever it was those threats summoned!”

“Right away!” John ran out of the room, feeling a bit upset about what happened to his phone.

The CEO slumped back on his chair, grunting. “I need to act fast. I can't have these leaked footage ruin our work. We've been making so much good progress!” He grabbed his shot glass, only to have his hand freeze in the air.

He slammed his fists on his desk. “Why did I threw my bottle?! I need a drink!” He let out another fury scream, now throwing his shot glass cup.

His door was slammed opened again. “Sir!”

“WHAT IS IT NOW?!”

Avery flinched. “H-Have you seen the news?”

Snarling, he went to the TV that was in the corner of his office, turning it on. Right away, a News Broadcast was airing live.

“Reports say that these videos were uploaded anonymously, and that many residents of Kensdale are going havoc as a result.” A news anchor was explaining. A banner at the bottom of the screen said, ‘CORRUPTED COMPANY EXPOSED’ A photo of the Hameln logo was on her left.

The focus went to one of the Kensdale residents, behind him, was a crowd of others lifting up signs and a large banner. Each of them chanting or yelling.

The signs read, ‘Bring Down the Rats!’, 'Don't Follow Them to Fun!’, ‘Hameln Kidnaps Children!’, ‘Save Ours Kids!’, and so much more.

The banner several were holding read, ‘Justice for Sam Colton and Kate Park!’

“Take down Hameln!” The crowd was heard chanting. “Terminate the Rats!” Another crowd was heard chanting.

“Well, I had a feeling that Hameln wasn't trustworthy after word about Sam going missing went out,” the man being interviewed confessed.

A TV banner appeared, showing the man's name. Stephen Moore. “Like, I knew something wasn't right, but every police station or private investigation team I tried to talk to just kicked me out or told me I was crazy!” He scoffed. “How are we supposed to feel safe or protected if the ones who are supposed to do that don't even do it?!”

“Why do you think the police or the private investigation team refused to help Mr. Moore?” The interviewer questioned.

He shrugged. “Back then, I had no idea. I would always tell my wife that maybe there wasn't enough evidence, but now that the videos has begun spreading, I think it's clear why they refused to help.” He crossed his arms. “They were either in on the whole thing, or they were paid to keep us out of Hameln's business.”

“What's the next move you and the crowd behind you plan to do?”

“What else?” He motioned his arm to the crowd. “We're going to find that blasted company and take them down! Demand answers! Hell, we might even finally get our kids back!”

“Take down Hameln!” The crowd chanted louder.

The news went back to the report. “The videos in question show what appears to be camera recording of different events.”

Footage of the colored tapes began playing as the report continued. “Footage shows multiple employees holding beloved kid show creator, Sam Colton, hostage, tricking his daughter, Rebecca Colton, to sign what appears to be a contract, getting her to do chants, and many more concerning events.”

As she listed the two events, those exact tapes played. “Events such as these is making the parents of Kensdale fearing the worst of what could've possibly happened to their children that went missing years ago. Some parents are still holding onto the hope that their children are alive and will return.”

The clip of the green colored tape from the library began playing as the report continued. “But with footage such as this one, showing what appears to be a girl in a hospital bed, it gives parents more fears and worries for their missing children's wellbeing.”

The focus went back to the news reporter. “It is said that the police force in another location have decided to take a look into this case, even traveling all the way here to Kensdale to investigate while also bringing other forces to help them question the police force and the investigation team here at Kensdale.”

Footage of policemen interviewing some of the residents began playing. “While some of them have already arrived and begun their search, backups are still missing to arrive to assist in the case.”

It then went to one of the police officers. “When we got a call saying that there was a fire, I thought it was just an average house fire,” he told the interviewer.

A banner with his name appeared. Juan Delgado.

“So when we arrived and saw that it was a famous building that was on fire, I thought it was a horrible accident.” He went on. “Then my team and I were told about how it was arson made by some company, and I first, I didn't know what to think.”

“What convinced your team that it was arson?” The interviewer questioned.

“Well first of all, they showed evidence. Pictures, folders containing disturbing documentation of experiments, even copies of information they gathered during their research on that Hameln corporation.”

“Have the residents from where you live ever heard of Hameln?”

“Not really. Which is why it shocked us to hear that a company that doesn't even originate where we're from would go out of their way to try to burn and possibly murder a huge group of famous celebrities just because they were doing research.”

“Do you think the arson was a one time thing?”

“Definitely not. If that company's willing to burn down a massive building, then who knows what else they're willing to do. In fact, I think that by us even doing this interview will be enough to send them on a crime spree.”

The camera went back to the reporter. “We will share any future updates as the story develops.” She finished the broadcast.

Avery turned off the TV. “This is live sir!” She warned. “Everyone in Kensdale has seen it! And they've even recorded it and uploaded it! We're in deep trouble!”

Mr. Hameln remained stiff. Without turning, he spoke in the most frightening calm manner. “Leave my office at once.”

“Y-Yes sir. Right away.” Avery gulped, leaving the room.

“If they think we're going down without a fight, then we'll show them just how much influence we have over our creations.” 

He walked to his desk, digging around. “If these people are going to try to find us, then that means so will the test subjects. Since some of their experiments already found us, that means it won't be long until the rest arrive.”

He found his gun and a hard drive. “And as much as I'd love to have the chance to finally get my hands on those kids, with those experiments around, it be much to dangerous. So I might as well find other ways to get them.”

He placed his gun in his hidden hoist and left the office, making his way to one of the many rooms. He saw Ricardo talking to Stephanie, who was printing out several sheets of paper.

“This is absurd!” Ricardo shouted in rage. “Just wait until our boss see this!”

“See what?” He asked.

“Boss!” Stephanie freaked out. “The memories you requested! It's worse than we think!” She grabbed the freshly printed out papers, handing them him.

He grabbed them. His eyes slowly widening with rage and murder. He read about the moments Wooly showed Amanda the room, the conversations they had about escaping, the times they discussed with the Smash Kids that were inserted into the show, how they've even talked with the possum.

But the most damning part of all, was reading how Wooly told Amanda that he was a double agent. Reading the fake reports he left so they wouldn't question him.

“How. Dare. He. BACKSTAB US?!” He yelled so intensely that he didn't noticed how he tore the paper right in half. “We GAVE him LIFE! And this is how he repays us?!”

His breathing was fast, pissed, loud. He crumpled up the papers and let them fall to the floor. “Good thing I came prepared.” He took out his hard drive. “I've been working on this for a while, it's time to put it to the test.”

“What's that?” Stephanie wondered.

“Emergency coding for our Little Lamb.” He said with false kindness. “Let's just say, with this coding implement on him, it'll be the biggest boost needed to prove how loyal our creations are to us.” He winked.

He grabbed the coder's palm and gently plopped the drive on her hand. “I'll it to you to quickly add it. But do hurry, we're not going to be here much longer.”

“What do you mean?” Ricardo asked.

“News is spreading like wildfire. Which means we cannot continue our work here. We'll have to relocate for the time being.”

“What do we do about the stuff here?!” Ricardo worried.

“Relax. We’ll make sure everything is shut down and all the power is off.”

“And what about the ones you added to the tapes? What do we do with Riley? Or with the craze one?” Stephanie questioned.

“Hmm, see if you can add the loyalty coding to the ones inserted, I also need to talk to Brad and Tiffany to see if they could do anything about the memories of the cartoon elf. From what the Lamb's memories show, he still has some.”

“I'll go let them know.” Ricardo volunteered, leaving the room.

The CEO turned to Stephanie. "As for those two, we're bringing them. Obviously." He began snapping his fingers. “Chop chop! Get Dan to help you if needed. We must make haste!”

“Right away sir.” She nodded. She turned to her computer and inserted the drive.

Mr. Hameln left the room, taking out his communication device. He always carried it with him. He activated it. “John, when you're done talking to Anthony and Audrey, Gather the remaining employees. We're evacuating immediately.”

--------------------------------------------------------------

*Entering Dream Sequence*

Iggy laughed as he rolled down the hill with Lemmy. The two have been doing this for the entire day.

It would never get old.

“Again!” Lemmy laughed. They ran back up the hill, ready to roll down until someone else spoke.

“Rolling down the hill are we?”

The twin turned, seeing someone else. Who that someone else was, Iggy couldn't tell. Their face was… hard to see.

It almost felt like they didn't have a face to begin with. He heard their voice, somewhat finding it familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

“Join us Ludwig!” Lemmy clapped.

“Watching you is already fun enough.” The other one smiled.

“Lud…wig?” Iggy said to himself. Why did that name sound so familiar. He didn’t recall meeting anyone outside of Lemmy.

He squinted his eyes, trying to form this Ludwig's features. Nothing. The only thing he could see is that he had a similar body to him and Lemmy.

“Hey! Can you ask dad if we can get burgers after this?” Lemmy continued.

“Sure!” Ludwig said with glee. “Maybe we can even trick Bowser Jr. to ask him to get us extra fries.”

The two laughed before Lemmy grabbed Iggy's arm. “Let's roll down the hill again!”

“Okay!” He cheered.

“I wanna join!” A third voice cheered.

“Come on Larry!”

“Wait for me!” A fourth voice exclaimed.

“Yay! Junior's joining!”

“You kids better stay out of trouble!” Ludwig called as the four began rolling down.

“Those kids, A fifth voice chuckled. “They are balls of energy.”

“Indeed they are Roy.”

While Iggy was having fun, he still couldn't detect how any of these others looked like. Only Lemmy was clear.

The others had bodies similar to them, but their faces or heads weren't visible.

Suddenly, the area grew dark. Like if a storm was coming. It changed so suddenly, that Iggy was a it unnerved. “We better head home.” He said.

When he didn't get a response, he turned his head. Lemmy was there. But he seemed… emotionless.

“Lemmy?” Iggy reached for him, only for him to suddenly fall to the floor. His eyes looked lifeless, and he was still, like if he was a statue.

“Lemmy!” Iggy cried, trying to reach for him again, only for sudden strings to wrap around him and pull him away.

He heard a scream. Turning, he saw the ones his twin called Larry and Junior being dragging away by a person.

“No! Let them go!” Iggy yelled, trying to wiggle out of the strings.

“You don't need them.” A familiar voice told him.

The older fifth Koopaling looked up, seeing Mr. Hameln. “They are not real. We are your real family.”

Another scream. Iggy jerked his head back, seeing Larry and Bowser Jr. now gone. Lemmy’s body began to rot away.

“Lemmy!” Iggy cried.

“We are your real family.” Mr. Hameln repeated. “You're only family.”

----------------------------------------------------------

*Exiting Dream Sequence*

Iggy screamed. His body moving up so fast you'd think he was going to send himself flying.

Riley woke up instantly, pushing themselves up with their palm. “Iggy!”

They saw the Koopaling hyperventilating, their body shaking, tears leaking from their eyes.

“Did you have a nightmare?” They asked, sitting upward.

The Koopaling slowly turned to them. “I-I don't know.” He moved close when he saw them opening their arms for a hug. “A-At first, it felt like a memory.” He confessed.

Riley stroked their head. “A memory?”

“Yeah. I was with Lemmy. Others were there, but… I couldn't see their faces.”

“Were any names said?”

“Uh, Ludwig, Larry, Junior, and Roy.” He recalled. “I don’t know who they are, but their names sound familiar.” He rested his head on their chest. “But then it became a nightmare.” He sniffed.

Riley continued to cradle them. “It's okay. I'm here.”

“Riley,”

“What is it?”

“I don't think I’ll be able to go back to sleep.” He looked up at her. “Can you stay up with me and play?”

Originally, Riley wished they could sleep longer, but they knew this innocent child needed comfort, so they nodded.

Iggy smiled. “Thanks!”

The beeping of the door startled the two, and it didn't help when John shoved the door so hard it slammed against the wall. “Get up! We have to leave. Now!”

-------------------------------------------------------------

“Where… where do we go now?” Mandy asked.

The team had stopped at what appeared to be an intersection of the sewers.

“I don't know, but we have to find our way out. We need to get to Kapp'n and reunite with the ones back at the hotel.” Mario informed his team. He made sure the tape was still safely tucked under his arm, his palm still having the flame active.

“I haven't gotten a reply to where they are yet.” Luigi told his brother. “My arms are getting tired from carrying the package by the way.”

If the fighters were to take a close look at his arms, they would see them shaking from exhaustion.

“Let me carry it.” Bowser offered, which the plumber in green happily handed the heavy box over.

“When we do meet up with the ones at the hotel, what's our next move?” Joanne wondered.

“What else?” Inkling boy spoke with a bit a hatred. “We come together as one and then we find the Hameln company.”

Lucas wanted to bring up Jordan's letter, but remained quiet.

Inkling girl felt her ears twitch. She thought she heard the sewer waters splash and plop. Turning to the right, she saw a horde of eyes peeking out of the murky waters.

Its head moved to face her, the two gazing directly at each other. Something inside the orange squid told her to get closer. To try to talk to the monster.

(Is… is this how Mort felt?) She mentally asked. (Is this what he felt when he wanted to talk to Amanda's Entity?)

Before she could move, it slowly moved its arms to the platforms, pulling itself upward, fully covered in gunk and sewer water.

She gasped, covering her mouth with one hand while the other tightly hugged the Wooly doll.

“What is it?” Joanne asked, shortly spotting the Entity. “No!” She panicked, making the other face the direction the two were looking at. “Run!”

“Hurry!” Mario ordered.

Mort grabbed Muriel’s wrist and had to yank her to get her to run. She let out a scream when she heard the claws screeching against the floor she once stood on.

“I'm sorry Wooly!” She cried, turning back to face the Entity. Tears fell from her eyes as she watched it chase them down. “But stay away from us!”

They heard the beast roaring as it chased after them, getting some of the kids to scream, doing their best not to look back.

Bowser saw what he thought was an opening. “This way!” He shouted, sharply turning, making sure nothing from the package went flying, and running into a room, the others following behind.

Some of the fighters slid across the floor, their shoes making a sound before they rushed into the room.

Turning to look behind them, they saw how metal doors slammed shut, preventing that monster from attacking them.

They could hear it claw at the metal doors, letting out growls and hisses as it continued to claw and scratch the door.

“Is everyone here?” Luigi checked through pants, his hands were on his knees.

Lucina quickly head counted everyone a total of five times before sighing with relief. “Alright, we're all here. Thank goodness.”

“How's the package?” Robin checked.

“Everything's still inside and safe.” Bowser told him.

“That's good.”

“There's no way…” Brandine panted. “That was Wooly.”

“It… it has to be.” Muriel said. “There's nobody else it could be.”

“And you got mad when-”

“I know!” She shouted over her best friend. “I already feel like trash! Don't rub it in!”

“I wasn't going to.” Mort exhaled. “I was just going to say that since you now know how I feel, we can work together better.”

“Y-Yeah. We can.” She took a deep breath. “I wish there was a way I could talk to him.”

“Hold on,” Ness lifted up a hand.

“What is it?” Cletus asked.

“When we first met Amanda's Entity, we thought it was her, but then she proved it wasn't. So that would mean if this Entity is Wooly's, then they're not the same. It's his demon.”

“What are you trying to say?” Lucas trembled.

“Wooly summoned it. And the fact that it attacked us says a lot.” The boy in the red cap told them.

“No!” Muriel cried. “He didn't summon it to attack us! There's no way that's true!”

“Well why else would it attack?!” Cletus waved his hands up and down.

“Maybe it was after Joanne!” Inkling girl shouted, getting the woman to flinch hard. “Or maybe it was trying to get to the package!”

“Honestly,” The blue squid began, his face slightly shading. “If I could open this door right now, and give her up to the monster,” he slowly turned his head to her. “I would gladly do it in under a second, no questions asked.”

“Can you not?!” Mandy yelled. “We don't have time for your ridiculous hatred!”

“Everyone!” Mario shouted. “Right now isn't the time for us to be hating or wanting each other to get hurt! We just escaped the same monster twice! Let's finally find out way out of here and head to Kapp'n!” He said with order. The way a drill Sargent would say to those he was training.

He looked around, the only thing in the room was a flight of stairs that lead to a door. It was probably the only way out.

“Wooly,” Muriel sniffed, hugging her doll. “Why didn’t you tell us you had an Entity of your own?”

Mort placed a hand on her shoulder. “We'll figure this out soon.”

“This way.” They heard Mario instruct. He was already making his way up the stairs, his younger brother following him.

“Hurry children.” Lucina went behind the kids.

The kids were guided up the stairs, each going through the door that Mario held opened while Luigi head counted each of them.

After the kids went through, the adults went afterwards, with Mandy and Joanne being the last ones out.

It didn't take long before they finally felt the cold but refreshing breeze of the night hit their bodies when they found the exit.

They saw how they were at a slight distance from the library. After a walk that took several minutes, they found their way back to the front of the library.

“You two take the car, the rest of us will take the bus.” Mario instructed Mandy and Joanne. “And don't even think of doing anything funny.” He warned.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Riley held Iggy in their arms. They had no idea what was going on, and they knew they couldn't ask any questions.

After John ordered them to get up, they were forced into one of the many vans they had, being watched by several guards.

As they waited, Iggy ended up getting so bored that he fell asleep in their arms.

Eventually, the remaining employees entered other vans Riley was able to spot a female employee handing the CEO a hard drive, the two talking about something they couldn't hear.

Now, they were stuck in a van with the psychotic CEO and his equally psychotic Right Hand.

The CEO was sitting on the passenger seat while the Right Hand was driving.

Riley wished they had something to cause the two to crash the van. They wanted to find any way possible to escape and take the turtle boy with them.

Unfortunately, several things were in the way. For starters, they didn't have anything to cause a crash without them getting killed.

Second, even if they managed to escape alive, there was the issue of Iggy thinking these vile monsters were his family. Which meant he would be hurt if Riley did something to hurt them.

Third, they didn't have the strength nor energy to run. Riley knew if they ran, the ones with guns would just shoot them dead. Or at least have more speed than they do and easily catch up to them.

Lastly, they had no idea where they were or how to get back to safety. Which meant they would wander around helplessly with a child they had no idea how to take care of for who knows how long.

Riley clenched their teeth. It felt hopeless. But they wouldn't give up. They had a child to protect. A child that was struggling mentally.

Checking on him, they felt a warm smile form. Seeing him being able to sleep after suffering a nightmare/possible memory filled them with relief.

“When we get to our new location,” John suddenly began speaking, nearly making Riley jolt. “You will continue your role. Understood?”

“I never had intentions of quitting my role.” Riley replied with fury.

“Great to hear.” John smirked. “Don't forget, you will report everything and anything suspicious he does. Or else you'll lose your role.”

“If you ask me, I don't think talking about this while Iggy is in my arms is a good thing.” Riley lifted an eyebrow.

“Nonsense, he's asleep.” He chuckled. “Even if he did woke up or overheard us, we can easily just make him forget.”

“What does that mean?”

“Enough with the questions.” Mr. Hameln ordered. “Your job is take care of the crazed one, not learn about our work.”

Riley scowled.

“I suggest you start acting like you're warming up to us. Don't forget,” Mr. Hameln turned to them. “The child your taking care of sees us as his family.”

“Yeah. I know that.” Riley avoided eye contact.

“Then start acting like it.” He looked back at the road. “Otherwise, we'll make sure you end up exactly like the nuisance waste of flesh you once called your aunt.”

Oh how badly Riley wanted to grab that steering wheel and make this van slam to the nearest tree or street pole.

Had it not been for Iggy being in their arms, they wouldn't have cared if they died after making the car crash or get set ablaze.

Chapter Text

After entering the bus, Luigi checked his messages once more, finally seeing a reply from Chrom, and after telling Kapp'n where it go and taking his seat, it didn't take long for everyone to pass out or collapse into a deep sleep.

The bus driver didn't say it, but he felt extremely unsafe, so while the fighters were knocked out, he hit the gas, going over the speed limit so they could get back home faster.

Because of this, and the fact that there wasn't any traffic, it made getting home much easier and faster.

By the time they arrived at the hotel, the sun began to rise, making the once dark atmosphere become slightly bright.

Kapp'n decided to let the fighters rest. You didn't had to be observant to know they really needed the sleep.

He exited the bus to make sure the car followed them, which it did. He went to the driver's seat, gently knocking on the window.

The window was lowered. “What is it?” Joanne questioned.               

“Just want to let you know you can take a nap if you'd like.” He informed her. “The fighters in the bus are completely completely knocked out.”

“Thanks.” She rolled up the window and leaned back on her chair.

“Outside of sleeping, what's our next move?” Mandy questioned.

“There's nothing we can do at this point.” She told him. “From what Mort said, she told them everything. They know what I wanted to do.”

“So we just go along with what they want to do?”

“What other choice do we have?”

“Maybe after sleeping they'll be understanding.”

“Doubt it. Those two squid kids are dedicated to saving them. Even though there's nothing to be saved.”

“It's now more than distrust,” Mandy started. “They now downright hate you.”

“And it's the price I'm willing to pay.”

---------------------------------------------------------

The last thing he remembered was his body throbbing. The feeling of something crawling inside him, tearing through his organs and skin. It was mainly on the stomach where the a cramp like sensation occured.

Then, came the wailing. The agonizing wails he let out due to the burning feeling that was drowning him.

When he felt her near, he screamed at her to get away, not wanting whatever it was that was affecting him to spread to her.

The throbbing didn't stop, not until he fell backwards into nothing. The realm suddenly vanished into the dark abyss.

It went silence for a while after that. Until a cold feeling began to surround his body. It didn't take for him to recognize what it was.

Water covered his body. He was somewhere dark. Where was he? He couldn't tell. All he knew was that he was definitely somewhere he shouldn't be. Somewhere that wasn't Amanda's realm.

Though calling it her realm would be the biggest insult he could think of. If she had heard him say that world was her realm, he'd be back on that operating table in under a millisecond. The difference would be that she wouldn't sob for him afterwards.

Wooly tried to move, tried to blink. Even though the body seemed to somewhat react with his movements, it still didn't felt like he was in control.

He tried to clear his throat, figuring out if he could do something. Frankly, he had no idea what was even happening.

Was this some sort of strange dream? Was this a memory he never knew he had. If it wasn't any of those, then what the hell was going on?

Then, he felt a massive ear twitch, feeling it slight lift it up. He heard the distinctive sound of shoes. A lot of them.

It sounded like a herd of people. Workers maybe? No. That couldn't be the case. Somehow, Wooly knew that nobody was allowed down here. He also somehow knew that the only way to even get to this strange sewer like place, was through a bunker. How he knew that? He couldn't tell you.

He didn't know the answer to that. Even if he did, something in him demanded not to say a word.

He then saw the herd. No, to be more precise, he saw her. Inkling girl. She was holding the doll. The same doll that he made with Amanda. The doll made of his wool.

She looked… hurt? Distraught? Betrayed? Maybe all?

One thing was for sure, Wooly felt himself grow enthusiastic when he saw her. If he wasn't in whatever this situation was, he would've called for her. He would've connected his hands together and jump with joy.

But instead, all that came out was muffled growls, followed by the splashing and plops of the sewer waters that surrounded this body.

Wooly finally had realized just how massive this body was. It was bigger than the Entity Amanda had!

Then, it hit him. This thing… was his Entity. This was the monster that tormented and spoke to him.

Which mean the suffering he had earlier, was the Entity coming out of his body. Lord he didn't want to imagine how Amanda felt when her demon came out the first time.

Did she suffer the same way? Did she manage to hold back her screams? Was her pain the same as his? How long did it take for her to realize what had happened?

(Ah. I see you've finally awoken.) He heard the monster say, breaking him out of his thoughts. Like with Amanda's Entity, they were able to speak telepathically.

“Wh-What is happening?! How did I even do this?!” Wooly panicked.

Wooly saw the head moving to face Muriel. The two now making direct eye contact. He could see the fear in her eyes. But he saw something else.

Unfortunately, he couldn't decipher it, since his Entity slowly moved its arms to the platforms, pulling itself upward, fully covered in gunk and sewer water.

 “You better not-” His words were interrupted when he heard her gasp.

“What is it?” A woman was heard asking. 

(There she is!) The monster exclaimed. (The one my taste buds are craving for!)

“No!” The woman panicked, making the others face the direction the two were looking at. “Run!”

“Hurry!” The man in red ordered.

Wooly watch the blue squid grab his best friend's wrist and forcing her to run.

(Not on my watch!)

“NO!” Wooly begged as the Entity clawed the spot Muriel once stood at. Hearing her scream was worse than any beating Amanda gave him.

“I'm sorry Wooly!” He heard her cry. He saw her looking over her shoulder, eyes covered in tears. “But stay away from us!”

Those words. That sentence. It felt like if that damn saw was back on his head. It gave him enough emotional pain to feel a sensation equivalent to his heart literally breaking in half.

“No… No! Muriel!” He cried. “Stop this! I order you to stop!”

(Even if I wanted to, I cannot.)

“How does that work?!”

(It doesn't. That's how Hameln works.)

“What does Hameln-”

“This way!” The turtle man was heard shouting, sharply turning, making sure nothing from the package went flying.

“That package!” Wooly gasped. “It has the tapes!”

(And that's my second target.)

“They're not going to destroy them!” The sheep tried to convince it.

(They may not, but that woman will.)

Wooly watched the team run into a room several sliding across the floor, their shoes making a sound before they rushed in.

The Entity tried to catch up, but the slamming of the metal doors stopped it, making it growl and claw at it.

(Damn it! She got away! Again!) It continued to claw at the doors.

Wooly sighed with relief. “As long as Muriel's safe, that's all that matters.”

(Why waste so much emotion of her? You know she's just going to end up not trusting you right?)

“I'm not having a copy paste conversation that Amanda has with her Entity with you. Tell me how did I summon you? I don't remember trying to get you out?”

It tried to claw at the doors again, but eventually stopped. (If it's honesty you want, then fine.) It let out a growl. (It wasn't you who let me out, it was Hameln.)

“What?! How?!”

(We were created without a real life vessel. Which means they have much more control over us than they do with her.) It revealed.

“Then I need to warn Amanda! Along with the others! H-How do I go back?!”

(It'll happen soon enough. But I must warn you, when you return, make sure to stay true to yourself.)

“What does that mean?” Wooly asked, actually confused.

(You'll see soon enough.)

Then, like when he was trapped in the void, he felt that vacuum effect taking over him. Sucking him away from his Entity.

He let out a scream. It felt more powerful, more intense. Painful even, than when he was floating in that void.

----------------------------------------------------------

When the sun was fully in the sky, everyone was finally ready to come together and have the biggest meeting ever.

After waking up, the team made their way inside the hotel, not bothering to wake up Joanne nor Mandy.

In their eyes, they weren't part of the team. They only wanted to bring them to make sure they didn't do anything that could disrupt their investigation.

Going forward however, they had no idea what to do with them. They would have to discuss that with the others.

To say the fighters who stayed behind were overjoyed to see them back was an understatement. So many hugs, cheers, and pre-celebrations.

It took a long time for everyone to calm down, and once everyone found a room big enough to hold them all, they got to talking.

Both sides made sure to reveal everything that occured in full detail. The ones who stayed behind told Mario's team everything.

The Hameln vans circling their home, the kidnapping of all the kids, the information King Dedede and Meta Knight found, the strange events that happened when the kids were placed in a room for safety, how Chrom posted the information, and much more. They didn't leave out a thing.

Chrom also made sure to play them the audio of Wario's phone call, along with the recording that Snake managed to do of how the inside of the company looks.

Hearing about the events when the kids were placed in a room made the Smash Kids a bit guilty and uneasy.

From what they were told, all that happened… because of them. They were watching the ‘Picnic Party’ tape.

The puzzle they did, was them messing with their own stadium, and it helped Hameln abduct their friends.

Brandine tightly held the sides of her dress. (It was our fault…) she thought, feeling her eyes sting. (What's worse, I wanted to bring that dollhouse home! How could I be so reckless?!)

Cletus placed a hand over hers when he saw her vigorously quivering. “If you're thinking it was our fault, stop.” He whispered to her. “We didn't know that tape would lead to this. So don't think it was our fault.”

“B-But-”

“Brandine.” He softly told her with harshness. “It wasn't our fault.”

She looked down, loosening up her grip a bit.

After one side of the story was heard, it was time for the other side to tell their tale. And boy, was it a lot.

The ones who stayed behind felt like they were hearing the plot to a horror or a thriller movie instead of actual events.

Of course, when the kids were telling their side, they made sure out leave out the crush part. Other than that, everything else was said and explained.

They told them about the Entity restarting them so they could watch the ‘Picnic Party’ tape a total of three times, the puzzles they had to do, the kids that were now stuck in animal bodies, how they were able to actually talk to Amanda and Wooly, what the stranger wanted to do with the tapes, the new Entity they discovered, their escape from the sewers, and a whole lot more.

Lucas even brought up the note the Possum left them, informing them that the stranger's name was Joanne.

Everyone was quiet when all stories were told and all information was exchanged. It was so insane knowing this started because one person send them a package.

Mario leaned his back against the wall, his arms folded. “So now the only thing that remains is finding the facility.”

“We haven't heard word from Ridley, Wario, Snake, nor Bayonetta.” Link told him. “It doesn't help knowing that Wario called saying Ridley lost control.”

“We're actually getting a bit worried.” Zelda added.

Then, as if their prayers were heard, a ding was heard. Chrom looked at his phone, standing up faster than ever.

“What is it father?” Lucina asked.

“I got a text from Snake. They're nearby!”

-------------------------------------------------------

At first, everyone was thrilled knowing Ridley's team made it back, but that joy faded when they saw the state Ridley was in.

He looked disastrous! It was honestly a miracle in their eyes how he managed to make it back without collapsing!

As the fighters got to work on getting the healing items, Snake and Bayonetta were thrilled to see Mario's team, reacting the same way the other fighters did.

When that happy reunion ended, they took the time to reveal what went down. It wasn't a fun story to say the least.

It explained why Ridley was drenched in dry blood. It turns out, the reason they were even able to get here was thanks to Gomorrah. He had to do the heavy lifting in order to help Ridley even walk long enough since he couldn't fly.

After all that fighting and all those weapons against him, he didn't have the strength nor the energy to fly.

Instead of being at the hotel, they returned to the spot where their beloved home once proudly stood.

Seeing the area being covered in ash and whatever materials that managed to stay intact, but burnt badly was heartbreaking.

After getting Ridley healed and letting him rest, the roster, now fully together, even the DLCs were there, were ready to discuss the final step of their journey.

By that point, Joanne and Mandy woke up, and it was awkward for them to say the least. Now they had an entire roster giving them distrusting stares.

“So what's the plan?” Dark Pit asked.

“Well, as we've told you, our plan is for all of us to join as one big team and take down Hameln!” Mario informed them.

“Sounds great and all,” Sonic began. “But what about our home? We have to fix it or at least clean up the mess the fire left.”

“I have to agree,” Ike joined in. “Plus, if we all go, it could lead to more problems than solving them.”

“How so?” Luigi wondered.

“If trouble arrives, not all of us will be able to avoid it as well as you guys. Look at Mr. Game & Watch for example. Or Pichu. Then there's Isabelle and Olimar.”

“He has a point.” Rosalina spoke up. “I'm thinking those that won't do well with fighting or running should stay behind to rebuild the stadium.”

“I like that idea.” Peach nodded.

“It would be a big help knowing once we're done we can have somewhere to come home to outside of a hotel.” Bowser exhaled. “Cause let me tell you, after everything, I would really love to just come home, lay in bed, and relax.”

“That being said, let's figure out who’s staying and who's going.” Villager said.

----------------------------------------------------------

Wooly landed hard on the ground. It felt like he fell from ten stories high. His head ached like hell, his body felt weak, and overall, it was like an aftermath of a surgery.

If that's how it was going to be when merging with his Entity, then he had no idea how Amanda was able to do it.

Maybe he'd adapt? If that was the case, he’d still didn't want to do it anymore. Once already confused and hurt him.

Struggling to stand, Wooly did his best to keep his balance. He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt… negative.

He thought back to the events that took part before the team left the library. “What's the point?” He unintentionally asked.

He felt himself scowling. “Why are they wasting their time? It's not like it'll… change anything.”

“Wooly!”

Just like that, whatever made him feel bad went away. Along with the aching that tormented his body.

He was almost tackled to the floor by her unexpected hug. Though he wouldn't deny that he always craves for her affection.

He hugged her back, feeling her slightly shake. “Is everything okay?”

She pulled away. “I should be the one asking that!”

The other animals approached her, even her Entity was there.

“My demon told me you summoned your Entity! I've been worried this whole time!”

“You were… worried about me?”

“Don't ruin the moment.” She ordered, her eyes half closed. “So, how did it go? What was it like? Outside of painful. I'd never forget your wails.”

“It was… confusing at first. It took me a while to realize what had happened. Let alone that I merged with it.”

Amanda tilted her head. “You merged with it? On your first summoning?”

“I-I think? We talked. And I saw that it was in the sewers, I saw the Smash Kids and the adults. My Entity was after… that woman.”

The sudden tonal shift if his voice was jarring. It made the characters take several steps back with wide eyes.

The sheep shook his head. “S-Sorry about that! I don't know what's wrong with me.” He rubbed his head.

While the rest of his body felt as fine as this realm allowed, his head continued to feel like it was getting smashed opened. Or if the forceps were once again picking apart his brain. 

“I think I need to lay down.” He began to stumble as he tried walking.

Amanda caught him when he almost fell. “Whoa here buddy!” She said. “It's like you got drunk or something.”

“We should take him to your house.” Young Link advised. “Maybe after resting he'll be able to focus a bit more.”

“Good idea.” Amanda nodded. With the help of Jordan, she was able to lift the sheep onto Young Link's back. “Hang on tight Wooly. I'll make you a nice warm peach pie when we get back.”

Wooly weakly smiled. “Thanks Amanda.”

“Amanda,” the Entity spoke.

“Hm?”

“Remain here for a while, there's something I’d like to discuss with you.”

She looked up at it. “Can’t it wait?”

“It cannot.”

She sighed with irritation. “Fine.” She looked at the animals. “Take Wooly home, and if possible, get the ingredients for a peach pie ready.”

“You got it!” Timmy wagged his tail. “Come on guys!”

Amanda waved at them as they left. “What did you want to talk about?”

The Entity moved its head in all directions. It sniffed the air, letting out a defensive growl, clawing the floor. “This realm, something about it feels… odd.”

“What do you mean?” The hostess wondered.

“It feels as if this realm is changing.”

“Changing?” Amanda looked around. “Seems the same to me.”

“It may look the same. But it's not. I can sense it. Areas that never existed are suddenly appearing. The personalities of everyone is starting to become into something that isn't themselves.” It took several steps forward. “It's like if the rats did something to this world. But I do not know what.”

Amanda felt her heart rate increasing. “If they did anything, what are they trying to gain?”

“I am not sure.” The Entity's limbs made the bone snapping sound as it twitched its body. “But I do not like it. Perhaps if I entered the real realm, I could figure it out.”

“If you're implying that you head to the company building, I wouldn't recommend it. Last thing I need is for them to do anything to any of us.”

More bone snapping sounds as the demon hunched down to be at eye level. “Aren't the squid boy and his team thinking of finding the facilities anyway?”

Amanda flinched.

“If it would please you, I could examine the facilities to make sure they're not planning anything to harm him.” It offered.

The cartoon girl placed her hand on its head, gently petting it. “Please.”

With a nod, the Entity ran off, vanishing.

Amanda took a deep inhale through her nose, then let it out through her mouth. “If they find it, then that means they're close.”

She felt herself smile as she made her way back home. Entering, she saw Kitten and Jordan with Young Link and Toon Link in the kitchen.

The possum was digging through the fridge while the wolves were trying to organize the ingredients to make a pie.

“Where are the sisters?” Amanda asked.

“Upstairs in your room.” Toon Link answered. “Wooly seems to be feeling a bit weak, but he's conscious if you want to talk to him.”

“Okay. Thanks. And Jordan,”

The critter turned to her, he had a stick of butter in his mouth.

“Save some food for the rest of us.” She giggled, heading to the second floor.

“She suddenly seems nice.” Young Link commented.

“What are you talking about?” Timmy asked. “She's always been this nice!” His tail continued to wag.

A scoff came out. “Please. I mentioned I heard everything, and from the things I've heard, she's mostly anything but nice.” Toon Link debated.

"Let's not start a one person fight again!” Timmy growled. “Cause let me tell you, and you better listen,” he suddenly began to sound deadly serious. “I'm getting used to sharing this body with you, but that doesn't mean I won't fight to keep this body.”

“Keep this body?” Toon Link asked.

“You heard me. I'll make sure whoever you are doesn't speak or take over anymore. Cause in the end, I'm the one that was created for this world. Hameln gave me life. And you won't ruin that for me.”

Young Link and Jordan had their mouths opened.

“Is that a threat?” Toon Link was taken aback.

“More like a wolf's warning to stay away from his territory. This is my home. And this is my body. As a wolf, I'll fight to protect what's mine. So don't think you can barge in and take away what Hameln gifted me.”

The stick of butter fell out of Jordan's mouth as he continued to have his mouth agape from shock.

“Timmy,” Young Link began. “Where did that come from?”

The light green wolf widened his eyes. “I-I'm so sorry! That wasn't supposed to come out! I have o idea where that came from!” He covered his muzzle with his paws, whimpering in guilt.

The sounds of shoes coming down the stairs brought everyone’s gaze to the doorway of the kitchen. Amanda entered, immediately sensing the tension. “I'm not even gonna ask.” She rolled her eyes. “How about we just make the pie and whatever it was that I missed can be said later. Sound good?”

“Hyper good.” Young Link nodded.

----------------------------------------------------

Wooly stared at the ceiling of the bright pink room. He could hear the sounds of the ones in the kitchen getting to work.

When Amanda came to check on him, he felt more happier than he was expecting. It almost overpowered the amount of joy he would've felt with Inkling girl.

The thing he couldn't figure out was… why?

He cared for Amanda, that was true. And he did enjoy when she was nice or showed that she returned the care to an extent, but he'd never thought he'd get as overjoyed as he did when she checked on him earlier.

Something about him didn't feel correct. Then again, was anything in this world correct to begin with?

He gritted his teeth when the jabbing on his head returned. Really, what the hell was going on?

He couldn't even remember what he and Amanda talked about. All he could recall was just how overly happy he was that she was there. That she was checking on him and making sure he was okay.

It actually scared him just how much he loved that she was there. How was it possible that one moment, he was scared of her, but still cared, then went to standing up to her but still caring, to now… overly caring?

It didn't make sense. It was too drastic of a change. Something had to had happened, and he needed to figure it out.

Muriel and her team would eventually find the Hameln company, which meant they would soon escape.

“Why escape though?” He suddenly asked himself. He sat up, now looking at the blanket that covered his body. “What difference would it make? What would it even change? Nothing.”

His unwanted scowl returned. He felt his eyes forming a glare. “Maybe Timmy's right. Maybe it was a bad idea to show Amanda and the others that room.”

A knock at the door scared the sheep, his negative feeling draining once again. “C-Come in!” He called, trying to sound happy. (What is happening to me?! Why am I thinking that way?!) He thought as the door opened.

“Hey Wooly.” Amanda greeted, holding a tray. There was a plate of two peach pie slices. “Hope you're hungry. Cause I made you your favorite!” She entered the room, the other animals following behind.

She placed the tray on the bed. “Eat up. I promised you peach pie and here it is!” She sat on the bed next to him, her legs dangling off the bed.

“Thanks Amanda! You're the best!” Wooly clapped, feeling that overly happy joy fill his body. He grabbed the fork and began eating.

The other animals, who held plates of their own slices with their mouths, placed their plates down and began to eat as well.

“Where's your slice Amanda?” Wooly asked.

“I'm not much for peach pie. You know that. I prefer apple pie.”

“Still, I don't want you to feel left out.” He grabbed the other slice and handed it to her. “Eat with us.”

She rolled her eyes, taking the slice, not caring that she didn't have neither a plate or a fork. “Fine. Only to avoid you pestering me.” She took a bite. 

Wooly brightly smiled. “This is nice.” He stated, watching the others enjoy the dessert. “We should do this everyday.”

“Eh.” Amanda shrugged. “It'll probably be better to plan that once we're out of here.” She took another bite. “That way we can try other pastries with the Smash Kids. I'm sure they would love that.”

Popo lifted up her head, nodding to confirm.

“Uh… about that,” the sheep began. “Do you really think they could… get us out?”

The cartoon girl paused with her chewing, it took a while before she swallowed and turned to the wool covered animal. “Why are you suddenly asking that?”

“I-I just want to know what we should do if they… I don't know, can't figure it out? Or maybe… change their mind?”

Amanda gave him a small glare. “They will get us out.” She turned back the remains of her slice. “There's no way they'll fail. By this point, we know the squid kids. They'll stop at nothing until we're free.”

“Facts.” Young Link joined in, licking his lips as he finished his slice. “There's not need to be concerned Wooly. The fighters of Smash have done endless things that others would deem impossible.” His tail swished. “So do not worry. They'll find a way to make sure we're all free.”

“What if we don't want to escape?” Timmy asked with annoyance. “Ever thought about that?”

“We are not going to argue.” Toon Link said. “You said it earlier, you didn't wanted to have the one person fight.”

“It’s not arguing if one of us is right.”

“If you think not wanting to escape is being right then you are hopeless.”

“I thought by now you understood Timmy.” Amanda spoke up. She shut her eyelids midway. “I guess I was wrong.”

“But what if?” Wooly joined in. “It's just hypothetical, but what if Timmy's right? What would we do if not everyone wants out? What if there's no way out?”

“Okay that's it!” Amanda got off the bed, her fingers crushing into the slice. “What is going on with you two?! What's with this sudden shift?!”

“We never changed Amanda.” Timmy told her. “You're just finally seeing how we really feel.”

“What are you trying to say?” Young Link asked.

“We don't want out.” Timmy confessed.

“Who's the we in this situation?!” Toon Link demanded.

“All of us.” The light green wolf answered.

“Absolutely not!” The dark green wolf shouted. “I don't want to be here! This place isn’t our home!”

Popo and Nana made distress noises, trying to say that they didn't want to be here either.

Possum took out the box and was about to activate it, but was stopped when Timmy snatched it. “You are not meant to talk.” He said. “Let's keep it that way.”

Amanda snarled, her hand now fully crushing and destroying the slice. “Timmy,” she took a slow, threatening step towards him. “Give. That. Back.”

“Or what? Are you going to kill me? I'll just come back. Whether you like it or not Amanda, we're stuck here. This is our home.” He got close to her face. “Nothing is going to change that. Not even a group of fighters who want to undo everything Hameln's has worked hard for.”

Wooly wanted to scream at him to stop, but his mouth refused to say anything. To make things worse, he felt himself.,. agreeing with the wolf.

Amanda was hit with the words of her Entity.

{“The personalities of everyone is starting to become into something that isn't themselves.”}

She backed away from the wolf. A tsk exited her mouth. “I guess those rats really did do something.”

“What?” Young Link questioned.

“My Entity warned me that something about this world is changing.” She glanced at both the light green wolf and the sheep. “It mentioned how personalities are turning into ones they don't have. I'm starting to see that.”

“Wait, does that mean it'll happen to us too?”

“Who knows?” She replied. “One thing's for sure, Mort and his team need to hurry up.” She went to the light green wolf and yanked the box from his tail, making him let out a canine whine.

She handed the box to Jordan, who tightly held it close to his chest.

“Amanda-”

“Wooly.” She shut him up. “Don't talk to me unless it's really you. I don't want to waste my breath on the fake version of you that believes getting out of here is impossible.” She looked at her pie covered hand, opening her palm to let the pieces fall to the ground, not reacting to it. “I lost my appetite. So thanks for that.”

Without another word, she left the room, picking up Kitten.

“Now look what you've done.” Toon Link snapped.

---------------------------------------------------------------

The Entity was a bit on edge when it saw the facilities completely empty and silent. Part of it even prepared for a possible sneak attack, but nothing came.

As it crawled along the walls, making sure to hide whenever it heard a noise, it kept a lookout for anything of use.

But no matter how much it searched, it really did seem like the place had been abandoned. The Entity couldn't tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

For one, if the place was abandoned, it would make things much easier for the man in red and his entourage to investigate.

On the other hand, it also meant that Hameln was still out there. They could easily start from scratch. As long as they had the data on Amanda, they would always have her in their grasp.

The Entity hissed at that. “Such vile repulsive walking flesh sacks.” It continued crawling around, now on the floor instead of the wall.

From what it could see, those rats took everything. Everything that was possible to be exact. Some things seemed to have been left behind, such as toys, the padlock on the fridge, and several scattered papers and files.

When it passed through a door that was near where the TV was located, the Entity felt itself growing hesitant. That room… was the security room.

It shook its head. “I've seen what I need to see.” It made it way to one of the corners of the many hallways. “I must report to Amanda at once.”