Bandana's POV:

Sakura keeps pacing back and forth impatiently inside some of the shrubbery outside of the 'NoA' place we're going to while we wait for Sakurai to show up and let us in. She's got her Ninja scarf on, but pulled down like a bandana so that we can see her face. You know, I'm sure Sakura could get us in herself, but I'm also sure that Meta Knight doesn't want us breaking and entering unless we absolutely have to. Not like he could talk, Mr. I-Built-A-Battleship-Under-The-Castle-Without-Telling-Anyone-Other-Than-My-Army-At-Least-Twice.

Pouting a bit, I cross my arms and stare up at the sky. It's almost dawn, now. Late-night flights aren't fun, 'cause you're tired when you get on, and then you don't sleep well, so you're still tired when you get off. I've only flown on a plane twice, and I can already tell you this as a matter of fact. At least the Starcutter had beds that were actually pretty comfortable.

Actually, I've been thinking about asking Magolor if I can work for him like Sailor Dee started doing not too long ago. At least then Sailor and I could hang out, and traveling the Galaxy sounds pretty fun to me. Plus, if Mags has got me around, he'll eat way better than he does now. I'm no great chef, but I'm better at cooking than he is, mostly thanks to lessons from Sakura. Kirby just eats all of the ingredients whenever she tries to teach us, but I actually try to listen.

Really, the best times are when Kirby's off doing something else so Sakura can give me her undivided unattention. I'm used to being ignored, but it really gets old after a long enough of a time. It's terrible, not being able to get anyone to notice you.

Sorry, but I'm feeling a little bit sour about not being allowed to hang out with the other Waddle Dee. Of course I have to come along and help, I'm part of the quartet, but it would be nice if someone asked if I wanted to come instead of just assuming I did.

Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Shut up and quit whining, Bandana. Whatever.

Suddenly, Meta Knight and Sakura's heads both snap up, probably meaning that Video Game Guy is almost here. "Finally," Sakura mutters and crosses her arms. You can tell that she's starting to warm up to Sakurai, but she still seems a little bitter about... something. I don't know, maybe she's just jealous of us 'provided' characters. I have to admit, I'm kinda glad to not just be a Random, to know that someone actually cared about how I was put together, instead of just being some randomly-generated code or whatever that was thrown together at the last minute before I came to be.

Gently, I nudge Kirby with my paw until he blinks himself awake. He fell asleep not long after we boarded the plane, and he didn't wake up after we landed, even through being carried by Sakura by the paws all the way here. Seriously, sometimes I think Kirby could sleep through a giant plant growing under his house and picking him up off of the ground.

Yawning, he asks, "Is it time to kick Solar into the next galaxy yet?"

Smiling a bit, Sakura nods, "Almost. You looking forward to it or something, buddy?"

Nodding sleepily as he rubs the sleep out of his eyes, he murmurs, "Yeah, poyo. I'm a hero, badguy-kicking is my job. Although I'd kinda like to change my career to 'royal food-taster' sometimes."

Chuckling softly, Meta Knight disagrees, "No, you would like to change your career to 'universal food-taster.' You are not picky, as long as there is food to be tasted, you are happy."

Giggling, still a little bit bleary, Kirby agrees, "Yeah. Sounds good to me, Mety." Sakura giggles at him while Meta Knight's slightly-amused expression changes to one of annoyance.

Grinning, Sakura points out, "Hey, look on the bright side. You only have one name with a few nicknames. I've got Sakura, Blossom, Yuki, Flower, probably more..."

Confused, Kirby wonders, "When were you called 'Yuki?'"

Looking a little bit embarrassed, she digs her toe in the dirt under this shrub and mutters, "It was a nickname of mine, once upon a time." Meta Knight gives her a disapproving look that I don't understand. I really don't get those two. One minute, they're all lovey-dovey. The next, they're looking at each other disapprovingly. Whatever, they're grownups. It's not really possible to get them.

Impatiently, we wait for Sakurai to show up. Guess there's a long driveway or something, you don't notice things like that when you travel as the crow flies.

After a few minutes, just as Sakura begins to exhale in exaggeration and Kirby almost goes back to sleep, a car pulls up close to the building's front door. Sheepishly, she murmurs, "Oh yeah. We completely forgot that he'd have to rent a car or something. How can Humans put up with not being able to just fly everywhere?"

Giggling, Kirby reminds her, "Sakura, most creatures can't fly. Even back home that's true. Look at the Cappies, and the Poppy Bros, and Fatty Puffer..."

Smiling absent-mindedly, Sakura agrees, "True. Very true. So us flying creatures must look with pity on the rest of the sad universe, and then fly away just 'cause we can."

That's not all that nice, I think with a mental chuckle, but no one hears it. Whatever.

While we've been talking, Sakurai has unlocked the door, and Sakura pulls her scarf back over her face and pulls a smoke bomb out of her satchel excitedly. In annoyance, Meta Knight takes it and shakes his head. "That will not be necessary. Save them for when you need them."

Rolling her eyes, Sakura disagrees, "Chill out, I've got tons of them." Opening her satchel, she declares, "To be exact, I've got, um..." Growing sheepish, she laughs apologetically, "Three, counting that one."

Giving her an unimpressed look that makes Kirby giggle, Meta Knight sighs, "I figured something like that would probably be the case."

Batting her eyelashes innocently, she shrugs, "I haven't had time to make more recently, between trying to keep up with everything going on and watching Marvel movie marathons with Geo and Terra. Ooh, and I saw WarGames again recently. That one never gets old."

"WarGames?" Kirby and Meta Knight frown simultaneously, but before Sakura can answer, Meta Knight shakes his head and sighs, "Do not tell me. It is a long story, correct?"

With a laugh, Sakura agrees, "Yep," then sighs and unwillingly runs over to the door that Sakurai is waiting at.

"There you are, I was wondering when you'd show up," he chuckles, making us all glance at each other in bemusement. "What?" he frowns, but Meta Knight just shakes his head and leads us other three in behind him.

Inside is a couple of big statues. "Mario and Pikachu!" Kirby recognizes them with a grin.

Sounding like a tour guide, Sakura tells us, "This room is the only part of NoA headquarters that's accessible to the public. Lucky for us, we're not 'the public.'"

Chuckling, Sakurai agrees, "Definitely not." Leading us into a different door, he then turns to us and asks, "So. Where would your friends be? Pardon me for asking."

"It's fine," Sakura assures him with a little bow, then frowns for a minute as she tries to remember something. "Let's see, the WiFi Connection servers would be in... that direction." Confidently, she leads us off down a hallway with posters from something called 'Nintendo Power' all the way down the walls.

Grinning, Kirby points at one. "Lookee! It's me!"

Meta Knight and I glance at each other in amusement. Only Kirby could squeal over the fact that he was famous every time it was apparent and still never become self-absorbed. I don't think it's even possible for something to go to that kid's head, which is a good thing.

Finally, Sakura stops in front of a wooden door. "I think this is it."

Amused, Sakurai agrees, "I think you are right." After he unlocks the door for us, we barge in, all prepared for a fight, only to find a tied-up Geo and Terra staring at the wall in boredom.

Snickering a bit at them (they're stuck in a corner of the room, probably having rolled there in their attempts to get free,) Sakura goes over and unties them. "Having fun there?"

Rolling his eyes, Geo disagrees, "No, not really. Solar's headed off to Kyoto to deal with the WiFi stuff there."

Worried, Meta Knight frets, "So we are too late?"

Frowning, Sakura goes over and turns a monitor on, thens gets past something called a 'password' in nothing flat.

Crossing his arms, Sakurai mutters, "And suddenly Nintendo technology seems a lot less securely protected."

Shrugging, Sakura tells him, "Eh, don't feel bad. I'm a sorceress," which makes him frown at her in confusion.

Confused, he wonders, "Is that some sort of a new nickname for hackers?"

Shaking his head, Geo assures him, "No, she's really a sorceress. But out here, magic is science."

"Yup," Sakura agrees. "Now to pull up a command prompt box and-" something pops up to block her. "iTunes terms and conditions have been updated. Read now and agree before proceeding. Yeah, yeah, whatever, I agree to the Terms and Conditions."

"What Terms and Conditions?" Meta Knight disagrees, coming over and looking at it suspiciously. "You should never agree to something without knowing what you are agreeing to."

Rolling her eyes, Sakura assures him, "Meta, I don't think anyone knows what they're agreeing to when they agree to the iTunes Terms and Conditions. In fact, I'm almost positive that Apple is the only one that knows what they contain."

"What is iTunes, and what is Apple? It sounds like a front for some diabolical scheme to me," he huffs, glaring at the computer in distrust. "I will read these 'Terms and Conditions' myself."

Groaning, Sakura disagrees, "Don't. Seriously. It'll take you hours, and it's not like they're asking for anyone's firstborn child or anything."

"You assume," he points out, eyes still narrowed at the computer. "'iTunes...' I tune what? Musical instruments? Evil spacecraft? And 'Apple...' Never trust an organization named after food."

Snickering, Geo declares, "You hear that, guys? We can never go to Waffle House again."

"Don't forget Whattaburger," Sakura giggles.

In faux-sorrow, Terra sighs, "Or IHOP, or Burger King, or Dairy Queen..."

Snapping her fingers, Sakura gasps, "And I bet you Sunshine Foods is actually run by Solar!"

Gasping in horror, Geo agrees, "He probably also owns DaysInn, their logo is shaped like a sun!"

"What about Walmart? Their logo is also sun-shaped," Terra moans in horror, then 'faints' dead away into Geo's arms. He doesn't seem to mind too badly.

Eyes still narrowed at the computer, Meta Knight growls at it, "Despite your mockery, I am still going to read the Terms and Conditions."

Facepalming, Sakura relinquishes the desk chair to him and sighs, "Fine. Have fun, Mr. Paranoia-on-Steroids."

"What?" he frowns at her, but she just laughs and shakes her head, going over to another computer and agreeing to the 'Terms and Conditions' before Meta Knight notices that they pop up, then gets up and grabs a couple of cups from a water dispenser and tapes a pencil onto each one before sliding them over her paws.

Crossing his arms, Geo comes over and asks, "So what are we dealing with?"

Nodding once, Sakura says, "Let's find out." Pulling up several windows, she says, "I'm going to run some diagnostics." Ugh. Boring computer stuff. I'm just going to skip this piece.

*several minutes later*

"Yeesh," Sakura mutters. "This thing is vicious. It basically 'eats' everything in whatever system it's placed into until it's the only administrative program left, then takes over all functions. It's got Solar written all over it. You let this thing into any government computer, BAM. No more government."

Geo has grabbed a nearby computer, and using something Sakura called 'local networking,' they've got the same screen showing on their two computers so they can both work with the same thing at once. "What do you suggest we do? I'm okay with computers, but you're the whiz kid."

Frowning, Sakura scrolls through a ton of code, murmuring to herself the whole time. "Geez. He just basically used every evil spell in the book, didn't he? Good thing computers aren't sentient, 'cause these are some really painful ways to go." Glaring at one string of code that means nothing to rest of us, she mutters, "Okay, now he's just taunting me. Jerkface."

"What?" the rest of us frown, but she doesn't explain.

Instead, she sighs, "Well, I can't stop it."

"Oh dear," Geo groans.

Smiling determinedly, she says, "But there is something we can do with it. Have you heard of the 'time bomb' virus delay tactic?"

Narrowing his eyes at her, Geo disagrees, "That's risky. Just like a real bomb, it could blow up in your face."

Shrugging, she agrees, "Very true, but do you see any better options anywhere?"

Frowning, he thinks for a minute, then shakes his head. "I guess not?"

Nervous, Kirby wonders, "What's the time bomb tactic like?"

Smiling a bit without looking away from the screen, she explains, "You know how when you have the Bomb Ability, if you don't throw the bomb quick enough it'll blow up and hurt you? Well, this is sort of the same way. You put the virus in 'quarantine,' but it can only be kept there for a certain amount of time before it goes off. If the time chosen is too short, it goes off early and makes a lot of damage. Too long, and it'll blow up before you want it to, and also cause a lot of damage. You wanna aim for the 'sweet spot,' which is when it'll cause the least damage."

Agreeing with her, Geo questions, "So how long do we wanna delay it for? As long as possible, right?"

Shaking her head, she frowns, "Email Blizzard and tell him to email Byte and ask when the World Government came to be."

Staring at her, Geo disagrees, "We're just gonna let the tyrant show up exactly when it wants to?"

She shakes her head again. "We can't mess with history."

Crossing her arms, Terra joins the conversation and points out, "It's not history, it's the future. And you're not telling me that you're just gonna let this thing happen without fighting it at all, are you?"

You can tell that they're getting on Sakura's nerves. "You can't mess with the space-time continuum. Think of it in Doctor Who terms. It's a fixed point in time, so we can't mess with it. Timey-wimey stuff, and all that."

"But what if it's not a fixed point in time?" Geo argues.

Finally, Sakura turns to him and snaps, "Look, Byte's whole world only exists the way it does because the World Government came to be. Knowing our luck, she wouldn't have ever even ended up in our little box if it wasn't for the World Government. If we change something, anything, her whole world will fall apart at the seams because we've destroyed the barriers of time. She'll crash into the end of all worlds. Sound familiar, Geologicus?"

"Eesh, now she's using your full name," Terra shivers. "You've got her really ticked."

Grumbling, he mutters, "I still wanna kick the jerk who named me that. Not my fault my knowledge of rocks saved a small planet from a volcanic eruption of massive proportions." Glancing over at Sakura, he sighs, "You're right. You are a lot of the time."

Smirking a bit, Sakura nods, "I thought so. Now email Blizzard."

"Already done, and we're getting a reply back now. Even if I disagree, an order from my commanding officer is still an order," Geo shrugs with a grin.

Nodding proudly, Sakura questions, "So when does our friend Mr. Tedium take over?"

"2400's," Geo answers, and Sakura nods, then smirks determinedly as she pulls up a new box to type into.

"Shall we play a game?" she murmurs mysteriously, then begins typing.

Playing along, Geo squeals excitedly, "Gee whizzers, let's play Global Thermonuclear War! That can't possibly be dangerous!"

"Oh my goodness, you're right!" Terra agrees with a crazed grin. "I'm gonna be the U.S.S.R. and send all of my warheads out after the U.S.!"

"Oh, no! The U.S. thinks it's real! They're gonna bomb Russia!" Geo gasps while me and Kirby frown at them both in confusion.

"Section 3, Paragraph 354, Line 12," Meta Knight murmurs to hold his place, then looks up over at the two of them. "What are you referring to, may I ask?"

"WarGames," Sakura, Terra, Sakurai, and Geo all answer in unison, then Terra and Geo go back to squealing.

Panicked, Geo squawks, "Oh no! The computer's going to actually start World War III!!! But this doesn't make any sense! I never would've seen it coming!"

Faking horror, Terra agrees, "Everyone hide under a table and cover your head, because that'll totally save you!"

Sakura snickers a bit but doesn't quit typing. Sakurai also smirks, but doesn't say anything, instead just watching the two Star Warriors act like idiots.

Shaking his head, Geo suggests, "Since we're all going to die anyway, how about we teach the computer to play tic-tac-toe with itself, just for kicks?"

Nodding eagerly, Terra squeals, "That sounds like a great idea! Totally boss!"

Grinning, Geo exclaims, "Wait a second, look at that! It's figured out that there's no real way to beat someone at tic-tac-toe. Do you think that maybe- oh, look! It's predicting what would happen if the U.S. started a nuclear war!"

"Total annihilation," Sakura drones helpfully.

"What if Kenya started it?" Terra wonders.

"Total annihilation."

"Russia?"

"Total annihilation."

"China!"

"Total annihilation."

They keep trading back and forth, Sakura always answering with the same drone until suddenly, she pushes back from the computer with a grin in her eyes and drone-declares, "Strange game. It seems the only winning move is not to play. How about a nice game of chess?"

Terra and Geo start cheering like crazy over their game, while Sakura exhales in relief. "That takes care of Mr. Tedium over here, for now. When he gets out, though, it's gonna be huge. He'll move from Nintendo to the global governments within hours."

"Then is it time to go to Kyoto?" Geo affirms.

"To Kyoto," Sakura agrees with a nod. "Come on, guys. Let's go." Freezing, she suddenly wonders slowly, "Why does Solar want to go to Tokyo? Why not just send the virus there from here?" Grabbing the computer again, she starts urgently typing. "Shotzo. He did."

Growing nervous, Geo demands, "Can you neutralize it from here?"

Scared, Sakura keeps reading and doesn't answer him at first. "Shotzo. That's where he's actually going. And yes, I've already sent the same fix there. It's also been delayed for a few hundred years now."

"Where did Solar go?" Geo demands, upset.

Punching the desk, she groan-asks, "Did Solar take anything with you guys?"

Hesitantly, he answers, "Well, the bag he was carrying T.E.D.I.U.M. in did seem to have something else in there with it..."

Urgently, she tells him, "Email Blizzard and ask if the Nintendo World console is where it belongs."

After a few minutes, Geo turns to her and whispers in fear, "No. He says the case is busted and the console is completely gone."

Meta Knight actually looks up from his suspicious study of the oh-so-evil Terms and Conditions and moans, "So that megolomaniacal madman has our whole world right where he can destroy it with a hammer or practically anything else?"

Nodding, Sakura agrees simply, "Yup. And most of us haven't even been born yet, so if he busts it, it's bye-bye birdy. Game over. Hasta la pasta. Insert another quarter. Please call service company. Refer to support.nintendo.com for assistance."

Rolling her eyes, Terra mutters, "We get the idea, Sakura."

Groaning, Sakrua lays her head down on the desk and wonders, "What can we do?"

"Remote access," Geo suggests. "Kick Tedium out as soon as he gets there."

Concentrating on us now, Meta Knight wraps his new 'cloak' around himself and murmurs, "But we cannot just 'kick him out.' He must only be kept on the Forbidden point, where the non-heroes will be able to defeat him one day."

"But he was always there," Sakura murmurs. Don't ask me how she knows that, 'cause I have no idea. "I was there when he first showed up. In the background, but I was there."

"You were?" Meta Knight wonders in dubious surprise, but Sakura ignores him.

"How was he already there, if he's only just now been created?" she mutters, glaring at the computer. "Unless Solar knows something we don't know..." With an even stronger sense of urgency, Sakura pulls open something else, which she declares to be the T.E.D.I.U.M. 'program files.' Reading through them, she finally finds something that she finds helpful. "Ha. He's a big badguy, I knew he'd have his master plan written down somewhere." Reading through, she then murmurs, "Oh, Shotzo. If only this guy used his brain for good. We'd have total world peace and no more hunger within a week."

Nervous, Meta Knight comes over and stares first at the code, and then at her. "What is it, Sakura? What has it revealed to you?"

"Well, it's better than something like just flat out 'c\:metaknightdie,'" she reassures him, making him chuckle while the rest of us look at each other in confusion. "Solar's discovered time travel. Byte's not the first, after all."

"And how do you time-travel?" Sakurai wonders in amazement.

Growing determined, Sakura declares, "Like this." She types something in and presses one key really hard. Suddenly, the whole room fills with light and we all feel like we're flying, but in a way that gives us a headache. And the weirdest part is we can all hear each other's thoughts.

Sakurai is thinking, "Boy, this has been the craziest day of my life..."

Meta Knight groans mentally, "It is like hyperspace travel all over again. Shotzo."

Sakura is thinking, "I'm gonna kill him. I'm gonna kill him. And when he's dead, I'm gonna bring him back to life so I can kill him again."

Kirby is wondering, "When's the next time we're going to eat?"

Geo is morosely pondering whether we're going to make it, while Terra is worrying about the kids.

And me? I'm scream-thinking at everyone, "Hey! You can hear me! I'm not a mute!" They all laugh at me kindly, and then just as quickly as it started, it ends. With a crash, we fall out of the sky onto a very familiar desk.

"Urgh," Meta Knight moans, rubbing his head.

Groaning in pain, Sakura mutters at him, "'Urgh' yourself. At least you landed on top of the pile. Get off, you're crushing my wing, Mr. Wears-Fifty-Pounds-of-Armor. Doesn't that ever get tiring?"

"My apologies," he apologizes, getting off and helping her up. "You get used to it."

"When's breakfast?" Kirby wonders eagerly as he rubs his tummy, but we all ignore him.

Shaking his head, Geo frets in annoyance as he gingerly rubs a goosebump on his head, "Welp, it looks like we're right back where we started."

"Oh, no. I'm afraid ye are wrong, Geo boy. For one thing, this is Tokyo, and the year is 1992. Sakura love and I will be arriving in New York City in a little over a week, and Kirby's Dream Land is coming out in less than a month. Your programmer friend there is only around twenty again. And within the box, it is the Year 5."

Spinning around, we all come face to face with a yellow, scarlet-eyed guy who I'm assuming is Solar himself. He's standing on a desk with his arms crossed, looking as smug as the cat who ate the canary. "Took ye fools long enough to get here. I've been waiting all of five minutes since my arrival. But look at that... Ye got here just in time for the show."

Eyes narrowed, Sakura draws her sword and lunges at him, but he holds the Nintendo World console in front of him to block her. She's barely able to miss.

"Coward," she hisses at him. "Always using someone else as a shield so you don't get hurt. Meta, Clerk, and now our whole world."

"When are we, anyway?" I wonder aloud, then try and fail to stare at myself along with everyone else, including Solar. "Um, I can talk again? Say what?"

"The time-travel must have rewired his brain," Solar and Sakura decide simultaneously, then glare hatefully at each other. I swear that if we were in the box right now, there'd be a bolt of angry lightning floating in the air between them.

"So, Solar." Meta Knight also draws his sword. "What is the show you have prepared for us?"

Laughing pleasantly, Solar hugs the box to himself like it was his favorite teddy and explains, "Oh, I'm about to let the T.E.D.I.U.M. out into both Nintendo Worlds: the one I brought back with me, and the one that's already here. But I'm going to go along with it. And once it's destroyed everything, I will destroy it and take over."

"Bandana," Sakura starts, then tells me in the Waddle Dee language, "That box he's holding is the Nintendo World that belongs in this time. We can let him into that one, but we can't let him into the one he brought back here with him. So we're going to have to get it back from him somehow. Got it?"

Nodding once, I hold my spear tighter and answer in the Waddle Dee language, "Got it."

"What is with the squeaky chirping and tweeting?" Solar wonders in annoyance. "What sort of secret code is that?"

A smile in his voice, Meta Knight tells him, "That, my friend, is the language of the Waddle Dee. They are probably discussing how idiotic you are."

Nodding, Sakura agrees, "How very idiotic you are."

"And stuck-up," Geo adds with a smirk.

"Pathetic," Terra puts her two cents in.

Laughing, Sakurai adds, "Small."

"Not tasty-looking," Kirby declares, which in Kirby's world is probably the worst insult ever.

Solar has turned an angry red and looks fit to explode into some sort of temper tantrum. While the others were making fun of him, I snuck behind him and grabbed the bag with Nintendo World in it with my spear, pulling it away. And now that I know that it's safe over here with us, I say my insult:

"Dude, you're also not hard to distract, and awfully gullible."

Grinning, Kirby gives me a high five. "Good going, dude."

Nodding proudly, I reply, "Thanks, man."

Now Solar looks even madder. Voice trembling in rage, he shakes his head at us and growls, "Maybe ye have the one box, but I have this one, and I'm not giving it back."

Sakura fakes horror, pretty well, actually. "No! Whatever you do, don't put Tedium in that box!"

"Please!" Geo agrees urgently. "You can't do that! You'll destroy our world!"

"Solar, even one like yourself must be able to understand the number of innocent lives that this creation of yours would take!" Meta Knight pleads, sounding desperate.

We've got Solar just where we want him. Ha, ha, HA.

Laughing, he turns to the computer. "Thy pleas do not fall on deaf ears, only ones that could not care less." Pressing several keys, he then turns and smirks at us, "Now T.E.D.I.U.M. is inside. I will join it soon. Trust me, I will have fun erasing the histories of each and every one of thee. Especially thee four," he grins evilly at me, Kirby, Meta Knight, and Sakura almost like we're something to eat. "Oh, yes. Especially thee four. But why stick to our point? I will get rid of Mario, Link, Ash, everybody. None of Nintendo's beloved characters will make it. Oh, ye Randoms I will only be able to destroy. But the rest of ye I will feed off of. Farewell!" Stepping backwards onto the keyboard, he then disappears into the console that he had plugged into the computer.

Hurrying over, Sakura pulls up the system folder and pulls up something that lets us watch what's going on inside in real time. It looks like all of the points are fighting, except for one-

"The Forbiden Point," Kirby and Meta Knight murmur in unison.

"I'll trap Solar and Tedium there," Sakura assures us with a sigh and a smile. But then, she frowns. "Where's Solar?" Scrolling through the programs, she finally finds him. "Wow. That's a sad way to go."

Curious, we all demand, "What? What?"

Laughing, Sakura sighs in an almost-pitying way, "Guess which administrative program Tedium 'ate' first?"

Chortling, Meta Knight says, "He did not."

Laughing harder, Sakura nods, "He did. The instant Solar arrived, his own program 'ate' him." After clicking on something, she reads, "Solar.exe refers to a program that is no longer accessible. Do you wish to delete this shortcut?" After a long moment, she clicks 'yes.' "Well, that's the end of him."

Relieved, she picks the box that came back here with Solar back up. "Well, we should return to that time, get Blizzard, and then go join Byte."

Sakurai reaches for the box. "May I please have this? I promise you that I will plug it in back at Nintendo headquarters in Kyoto and keep it safe. If the programs inside are all as alive as you all so obviously are, it would be unethical not to preserve it."

Hesitant, Sakura keeps a tight hold on it, eyes narrowed at him. "But we're 'just programs,' 'a failed venture into science,' 'unable to make you a single yen in return.'"

Ashamed, he murmurs, "So you're the one that stole that note from Miyamoto-sama off of my desk."

Looking like she's going to cry from a mixture of anger and hurt, she nods and holds the box tighter to herself. "I'm not going to let you take this, you're just going to stuff it back in the archives. And maybe it's only a computer but it's... it's... it's my home. It's our home."

Kneeling down so he's only a little bit taller than her, he smiles and says, "Sakura-san, (or should I say, Sakura-kyou, seeing as how you're also a knight.) That's a really nice name. Awful close to mine, actually." She smiles a little, but holds the box even closer. "We were all really upset. We had to leave all of these characters that we had so carefully crafted to die for all we knew. Trust me, we did not want to do that. That was the only comfort we could come up with, the false idea that you were all just 'programs.' That note was written out of sad bitterness, not towards you, but towards ourselves. Miyamoto-sama loves all of you just as much as I do, although we admittedly have different favorite points."

"Really?" she asks, her hold on the box loosening just the tiniest bit. "Will you really take care of it?"

Smiling, he nods, "Of course."

Slowly, she lets him take the box, and then he holds out a hand for her to shake. But instead, she hugs him around the neck. "Thanks for creating those three; Meta Knight, Kirby, and Bandana. I don't know what I'd do without them."

Grinning at her as she backs away, he agrees, "Neither do I, Sakura-kyou. Neither do I."

The next few minutes are a blur. We zoom to NYC, where Sakura grabs a carefully-wrapped bundle off of a shelf. "The Cherry Star Sword," she explains. "It's got a crack in it, so I can't use it anymore, but I keep it safe here."

In astonishment, Meta Knight mutters, "You broke a star sword? How in Dreamland could you break a star sword?"

Defensively, she sighs, "It's not magic glass out here, just glass. It cracked when I tried to open a padlock with it."

And then we move all of us (Blizzard included) back to the future.

This chapter. Took me. Six. HOURS. It's a good thing I love writing so much... But seriously. Ugh.