The Arrow of Time

Awakening

"Ow... ow ow ow ow ow ow ow..." Susie opened her eyes. "I hope I'm not bleeding from that." She rubbed the back of her head. Didn't look like anything too serious, but it hurt a fair bit. The room she was in didn't look familiar at all, and it had a pretty creepy atmosphere. She was on the floor of a room with very dim lighting, a few beds, and some machines that she couldn't even begin to identify. There were no windows. The lone door in the room had a sign on it that said: "ｗｅｌｃｏｍｅ 　ｔｏ 　ｙｏｕｒ 　ｎｅｗ 　ｈｏｍｅ！ 　ｅｎｊｏｙ 　ｙｏｕｒ　ｐ　ｅ　ｒ　ｍ　ａ　ｎ　ｅ　ｎ　ｔ 　ｖｉｓｉｔ　：）"

Fully sure that the door wouldn't open, she tried turning the knob. To her surprise, it opened with no resistance. She went out of the room and found herself in a hallway. The door she had just walked out of had a plate with her name on it. There were nineteen other doors in the same hallway, each displaying the name of one of the other Star Allies. She tried opening the other doors, but to no avail. "Helloooooo! Anyone? If you can hear me, open the door!" Nothing. There were two more doors in the hallway, both at each end. One was unlabeled, the other said "ｗａｒｅｈｏｕｓｅ". She opened the door to the warehouse and looked around. It was surprisingly large. Shelves were piled high with food and basic supplies, but what her attention was immediately drawn to was the person on the floor. "King Dedede?" She rushed over to him and shook him.

"Wh... wha..." He opened his eyes slowly. "Where... oh... you." He didn't have his hammer. "Oh, no. What horrible thing is happening this time?"

"Seems like everyone got kidnapped. I just woke up a few minutes ago, and I'm looking around. Get up." She continued looking around the room while Dedede raised himself to his feet.

"Thanks for the warm welcome. I'm leaving." King Dedede pulled the door open and went out. Susie followed behind, after verifying that there was nothing else of major importance.

The two of them checked out the hallway with the twenty rooms. While looking around, they realized that the doors with the names on them only open at the touch of the person whose name is on the door. Only Susie could open her door, but she couldn't open any others, et cetera. Before they went for the unmarked door, Dedede spoke up. "Wait."

"What is it?"

"I want to know what happened to you. I was with Adeleine, Ribbon, and Magolor when this thing wearing a cloth showed up and we got knocked out by an explosion. Next thing I knew, I'm in that warehouse. What happened to you?" Dedede crossed his arms.

"I was just... wandering around. It was six AM, and I like going out early in the morning. Got hit in the back of the head." She averted her eyes.

"Is that all?"

"Yes. That's all."

Without another word, Dedede opened the door. On the other side, there was a moderately large room with hallways extending to the left and right. On the far end, there was a door with a plate on it that read: "ｌｏｕｎｇｅ 　ｃ" Dedede opened the door, and they saw someone passed out on the couch. "Ugh, this guy."

"This is that copy of Meta Knight who's much more rude and unreasonable, right?"

Turns out he was awake the whole time. "You must realize I hear you."

King Dedede slapped a hand over his eyes. "You know what, I'm leaving you two alone. I'll go look for the others down this hallway on our right." He left the room, leaving Susie and Dark Meta Knight alone in the lounge.

"I don't believe I've ever asked this before, but what are your thoughts on cybernetic enhancements?"

"Get the fuck out of here and never speak to me again."