The Arrow of Time

Do or Die

Taranza couldn't help but go to the cave entrance. He had to know what was happening. He saw Dark Meta Knight, moving as fast as he could. Daroach was draped over his head, and he was dragging Magolor behind him. "What did you do to them?!?"

He skillfully scaled the side of the mountain and landed on his feet in front of Taranza. He practically threw Magolor into his hands, then dashed as far back into the cave as he could go with Daroach. "I saved them, asshole. Say thank you."

Taranza, gently cradling Magolor, followed him. He sat down across from Dark Meta Knight, his nerves going crazy. "What happened out there? Why are these two unconscious? What's the thing that's out there? Is it Scary Phone Guy?"

"I sure fucking hope not." He set Daroach down flat on the cave floor. "Because it's his weird flying boat thing."

"Huh?" Taranza was almost shocked enough to let go of Magolor. Almost. "The Lor Starcutter? Why would she do that?"

"Why would I know?" He averted his eyes, looking to the entrance.

They spent the next few minutes sitting across from each other, not making eye contact. Before long, Daroach was waking up. He looked at one of them, then the other. "Glad you made it up here, DMK. And good job not getting killed by Taranza." He tried to move his hand. "Grk-angh- khhhhhhh. Ow. Ow. My bones."

"I wouldn't have killed him!" Taranza retorted.

"You mean couldn't. You couldn't have-"

Dark Meta Knight was cut off by Daroach. "Yes he could."

"Shut up, you're broken."

Taranza set Magolor down next to him, and tried to move Daroach into a better position. "Can you not move at all?"

"Ugh, no. Well, maybe I can, but it hurts like a bitch. I hate it here."

Dark Meta Knight groaned loudly. "Well, now what do we do? We're stuck in a cave, two of us are injured,"

"Three." Taranza said flatly.

"And we're being attacked by a ship that can move faster and hit harder than any of us combined." The other two wearily shook their heads.

Magolor stirred, then his body started shaking. It was probably involuntary. One of his eyes opened. Taranza took notice, forcing a smile. "Hi. Are you hurt?" In response, Magolor nodded slightly.

"So, is there nothing we can do?" Daroach slumped even deeper.

Magolor squeezed his eyes shut tight. "I don't believe it. Why would the Lor be attacking us?"

"It's a heartless machine. No way it gives a fuck about reasoning."

"Why don't you shut up?" Taranza snapped at Dark Meta Knight. "The Lor Starcutter may look like just a ship on the surface, but she has a real heart! She wouldn't be doing this to us unless there's something else happening!"

"Ranz, calm down. I'm as sure as anyone else that the Lor is being controlled by something. The problem is, we don't exactly have a reasonable way of stopping her." Magolor spoke quietly, likely due to his injury. "The only thing I can think of is that the explosive from the video Sailor showed me was never an explosive at all. It's a control device attached to the side of her hull."

Daroach put his head in his hands. "So what? We die? Is that it?"

"This shit's getting annoying again." Dark Meta Knight stood up and made way for the cave entrance. "I'll handle it."

Daroach twisted awkwardly to look at him. "What are you gonna do?"

"I'll. Handle. It." He stepped out of the cave, and the sound of the Lor firing star-shaped bullets resumed. They didn't see him again after that.