The Arrow of Time

Reunion

"No keys." Meta Knight hopped off the bed. "Where'd they go?"

Daroach groaned. "Remind me what we even need them for?"

Taranza led them out of the hospital. "C'mon. We need to go figure out the situation." They got on the elevator and Taranza pressed the J button. On the way down, the thought entered his head. We never saw Elfilin. What could that mean?

The burnt bottom floor felt as empty as it looked. Several of the people there felt chills. "Did you have a particular room in mind or are we just here for the sake of being here?" Bandee asked.

Taranza indicated the open garden door. Inside was the white cloth, likely still covering something, and Magolor, unconscious, holding a trowel, with a dart sticking out of his back. He rushed to his side. "Magolor! Are you okay?" He picked him up.

"Mmrrr..." He shifted slightly. He didn't seem to be waking up.

Meta Knight immediately strode up to the cloth and grabbed it. "Don't-" He pulled it away before he even heard Taranza. Underneath the cloth was a mechanical suit, similar to the one Kine had before he was forcibly removed from it. The cockpit seemed to be large enough to be able to fit anyone there, with the exception of maybe Dedede. It was holding the jail keys in one hand and the dart gun in the other.

Daroach and Kirby came over to Magolor. Kirby seemed about ready to cry tears of joy. "He's here?" Taranza nodded.

Francisca approached the mech and looked it over. "There's a hatch on the back." She grabbed the handle and pulled it open.

Bandee gasped at the unconscious cargo. "Elfilin..."

- .... .. -. --. ... / .-- .... . -. / - .... . -.-- / .... .- .--. .--. . -.

"Obviously I don't believe it." Taranza announced as he begrudgingly placed Elfilin in the jail cell. "It must be a set up."

"Any reason why you think that?" Daroach locked the door. "I don't have any issues believing that, but I'd like some kind of basis."

"That's easy, it's because Magolor got shot. If Elfilin was in there the whole time, why did he shoot him with the dart and then not leave?"

"Good point." Daroach held the door open as Taranza went back to the hallway, and then let it close. "Still going to agree that him being there was super weird though, right?"

Taranza nodded. "Oh, absolutely."

... . .- .-.. . -.. / .- .-- .- -.-- / ..-. --- .-. / . - . .-. -. .. - -.--

Dedede was clearly much more deeply asleep than Magolor. It made sense, because Magolor was famously a light sleeper, and Dedede famously the opposite, but it was concerning nonetheless. Daroach kept a protective stance in front of Magolor's hospital bed. Meta Knight and Kirby stood next to Dedede, trying to wake him up. Bandee had climbed into a bed of their own, and was quietly screaming into a pillow. While Taranza brushed dirt off Magolor's hood, Francisca waited by the doorway and just watched. She was deep in thought. A growing suspicion in her mind, but there was something about the idea that wasn't quite adding up. She'd need to ask Elfilin for more information.

.--. .. .--. . / -... --- -- -...

"Oh, good morning. Sorry, I really bungled that earlier, didn't I?" Magolor asked after taking in his surroundings.

"No, no, I can't blame you for getting shot. Are you okay?" Taranza draped another blanket over him.

"I've felt worse."

Daroach held his hands up. "Whoa, low bar."

Magolor snuggled himself more comfortably in the bed. "Really, though, it's not that bad. Axe wound hurts a bit, but you haven't really lived unless you've almost died from blood loss, right?"