Sakura's POV:

"Welcome to the research center," I declare proudly as I open another steel lead-lined door and lead Meta Knight in. (All of the doors here have had an extra doorknob added to them about two feet above the ground, for the Toads, Star Warriors, etc. to use, per my request.)

Seeming interested, he goes to draw his cloak around himself yet again and yet again finds he can't, making me laugh. Among the winged Star Warriors, there seems to be two kinds: the ones like me who are very conscious of their wings the whole time, like they've always been there, always been a part of them; and the ones like Meta here, who always forget that the wings are even there.

Sighing and just crossing his paws the way he would if he had a cloak, he questions me, "What sort of things do you research here?"

"Ways to get home, like I said," I answer, then grow quiet. Before I can explain anything else to him, I have to do the not-fun part, the part I have to do with every new arrival. I hate this piece. With a sigh, I lead him over to a glass case, where a starry-yellow star-shaped console is sitting on a little platform inside, a couple of lights flickering on its sides to let us know it's working. "And this is home."

Looking back and forth between me and the box several times, he finally just gives a single, harsh laugh and states, "No."

Shaking my head mournfully, I disagree, "Yes. We're all just programs when we're at home. None of our adventures have been real. Not even the war was real. Nothing is real. It's all just so much code playing out a story."

Growing quieter himself, he murmurs, "I have had my suspicions, ever since I found out Nintendo World's original purpose back during the time of Tedium."

"I guessed that you probably would have," I sigh back, then shake my head again, looking down at the ground, one of my paws still on the glass case. "Is it crazy of me to want to go back more than I've ever wanted anything before, even when I know that it's all just imaginary, pretend?"

Wrapping a wing around me, like the way a Human guy would put his arm around a girl's shoulders, he reminds me, "It is real to us, and it is home to us. Of course you want to go back."

"But it's just a computer, just a game," I sigh, then force a smile onto my face. "Well, let's go see if any progress has been made." Leading him further into the room, I flip on one of the computers and pull a pair of plastic cups with a pencil taped to the end of each of them over my paws.

Giving me a strange look, he wonders dubiously, "Why are you wearing cups on your paws?"

Giggling, I tell him, "You try hitting the keys with your paws and see if you can actually get anything done. These are typing gloves. Geo's invention, actually."

"How long have you known Geo?" he inquires curiously.

Little sneak, trying to get me to tell him how long I've been here. Well, two can play at that game. Grinning at him, I answer, "About three quarters of the time I've been here."

He glares at me, making me laugh again. Actually, this is the most I've sincerely laughed in a while. It's nice. "Anyway," I go on, turning to the screen, "Would you be so kind as to click on my account square for me? It's hard to run a mouse with these things."

After he's obligingly done so, I type in my crazy-long password, then hit 'enter.' The screen pulls up the last thing I was viewing, which just happens to be an episode of Hoshi no Kaabi on YouTube. Hey, it's a good show, and the fact that I know the characters just makes it even better.

Meta Knight, though, is confused. "Kirby of the Stars, Episode 30," he reads, then frowns. "There is a show now?"

"And there has been since the early 2000's," I grin, closing Internet Explorer and clicking the 'Start' button, then waiting for the ancient Windows ME operating system to get its act together. "I wish we had money in the budget for even just an XP laptop. This is ridiculous."

"I have no idea what you are speaking of, like so often in the past day," he mutters, sounding a little bit annoyed. "Since when do you even know how to run a computer?"

Pausing a second, I then leave the Word document I was trying to open and pull up a command prompt box instead. Quietly, I murmur a spell as I type it into the box so Meta can understand what I'm doing. I then hit enter, and a pixelated thread of pink Light appears on screen, floating around a pixelated Meta Knight's head. "Here, magic is just science. I can't use it in real life, but I can get a computer to do pretty much whatever I want it to," I explain, then close the command prompt box, making the little animation I just programmed disappear.

"Oh," he murmurs with a single nod. It kind of stinks, learning that magic isn't real. Learning that everything you thought was real isn't. Even home is just another video game...

Going back to the Word document, I see that it's finally opened. "We keep research in documents like these," I tell him, then turn away from the screen and look towards the box on the other side of the room. "The way the Nintendo people got in was some sort of teleporter or transporter. As far as we can tell, they've destroyed all evidence as to how to get in, so we're stuck until the rest of the world can figure out how to teleport things. So, we hacked into all of the major science institutions and keep a close eye on their progress-"

"We, or you?" he wonders dubiously.

"Me, mostly," I laugh, then continue, "At the Humans' current rate, we'll be able to teleport ourselves into the box in..." I check the daily-updated file that we use to estimate how much longer it'll take the Humans. "Hey, they must've made a pretty big leap forward, it's fifty years less than yesterday. Anyway, we're going home in about three hundred years."

"Three hundred years?" he gasps, staring at me. "Is that really how long it will take?"

"Maybe less," I shrug, then stare at the floor. "Maybe more. We don't have the cash or the expertise to figure it out ourselves. At least... at least we'll still both be alive then. Trusting that nothing happens, of course. And that our lifespans aren't shorter here."

"Oh," he murmurs again, quieter this time.

"Anyway," I smile again, closing the document and pulling up the Internet again. "I want to show you something, Mister I-Hide-My-Face-From-Everyone." Grinning deviously, I pull up Yahoo image search and type in 'Meta Knight unmasked,' then collapse into laughter as fanart after fanart of him with his mask off fills the screen.

"What?!?" he groans in horror, then buries his masked face in the desk. "No, no, no," he moans, shaking his head.

I can't even breathe for about thirty seconds, then I finally gasp out, "Well, you knew it had to happen sometime."

Sounding dead serious, he growls to the table, "Somebody is going to die for this."

After collapsing back into borderline hysterical laughter for about a minute, I manage to squeak, "Ah, yes. Because killing a bunch of teenaged girls is really going to help things."

Shaking his head and still speaking to the desk, he sighs, "Why are the teenaged girls all participating in such a nefarious scheme to ruin my reputation?"

"Aw, come on. They just think you're cute," I tease him, trying to keep from falling back into laughter. "And look, look at this!" I type in 'Meta Knight and Sakura,' and the first result is him wearing a sombrero and shouting 'I want Taco Bell' in Spanish.

"What even is that?" he mutters, obviously lost.

Laughing again, I reply, "Your guess is as good as mine, Señor Knight."

"What does anything in that picture have to do with 'Sakura?'" he wonders, still lost and confused just like I was the first time I saw it.

Grinning at him, I shrug, "Again, your guess is as good as mine. I don't exist here."

Frowning, he starts, "But you are right-"

Rolling my eyes good-naturedly, I explain, "Well, obviously I exist. I mean, you and Kirby and Bandana and the other points' heroes are all the main characters in the Nintendo video games. I'm not in any of them. And I guess I'm glad, cause it means that I don't have fangirls or fanboys or anything else. Here, I'm like a secret agent. I'm invisible. That's my middle name, Invisible. Sakura Invisible Dee."

"I thought it was 'Careful?'" he teases, a smile in his voice as I close the tab and tell the computer to go into sleep mode.

Chortling, I tell him, "I think I probably have thirty or more middle names by now. Besides, I'm not that careful anymore when it comes to a lot of things. I don't see why you should be scared of something that can't hurt you."

Growing a little bit irritated, he glares at me and snorts, "So falling off of a speeding train or jumping off of a building cannot hurt you?"

Smiling at him sadly, I try to explain, "You don't have to be afraid of falling when you can soar." Half-laughing, I shake my head and look away again. "I know that probably doesn't make any sense, but it's what I think."

"Well, shall we go jump off of a building?" he teases, growing lighter again, but then suddenly the lights flicker out and the computers all shut completely off. "What just happened?"

Not answering him, I wait for the emergency generator to turn on the dim backup lights, then get up and go over to the phone that can only contact other rooms here in the shelter. Flying up to where I can reach it, I pick up the receiver, then hit the button for the main room and wait for someone to answer. Just as I suspected, Geo is the one that picks up.

"What in the name of Nintendo just happened?" I demand, feeling cold dread stirring inside of me. It's something bad, something very bad, I just know it. They've found us, we're going to be used as guinea pigs, it's all over.

Sounding soothing, Geo tells me, "Just some severe weather cut the power grid out. Nothing to worry about. It is that time of the summer, you know. Breathe, Sakura."

Relaxing some, I take a deep breath just like he told me to. It's okay. False alarm. We're all safe for now. "Thanks, Geo. No building jumping tonight after all, huh?" I crack a half-smile as Meta Knight visibly relaxes too.

"Pretty much," he chuckles back. "It's gonna be 'lights out' soon. You two gonna come join us again? A few Star Warriors are going to sing for all of us."

"All right, I'll be there in a jiffy," I reply cheerfully. I always feel strangely happy for a few minutes after a scare like this one. I don't know, I guess the relief just cheers me up some. "I mean, we'll be there."

Hanging up, I turn back to Meta. "Well, will you join me?"

Nodding, he agrees, "I suppose."

Turning and walking out of the door, I lead him back towards the main room. It's so strange for me to be leading him. I don't like it. Hopefully, things will start going back to normal soon.

As soon as I get back to the main room, something happens that requires my immediate attention. Don and Blizzard are let in by Geo, a shivering and soaked Elf right behind them. For a second, I think it's just a normal new arrival, but then he steps into the light and I can see that if they weren't soaking, his tunic and cap would be a dark green. His blond hair and Master Sword also gives him away. I don't even need to see his face or his eyes, I already know who he is.

"Shotzo," I squeak. "Link's here now, too?"

The Elf snaps his head up, and his thoughtful gaze meets mine. "You know me?"

"I know all of the heroes, but not personally," I answer, then muse, "So you're the Twilight Princess incarnation, looks like. Darn, I was kind of hoping Toon Link was the one in Nintendo World. Although all of the Elves are the Twilight Princess style, which is good, I guess. It's the one that looks the most Human-like." Growing professional, I then order, "Don, Blizzard. Go get a room ready for him, or at least a bed. Clerk?" I call into the room, and a moment later he shows up. "Go find our new arrival a dry set of clothes. You look to be about his size."

Clerk nods and hurries off without a word. Clerk's always been a good guy, but Meta Knight's being suspicious of him makes me feel a little wary of him. Meta's usually a good judge of character.

"Why does he listen to you? You're so short, just a puffball," Link muses, looking down at me still.

Glaring at him, I reply, "If you want to question my leadership, we'll solve it the same way I've always solved it."

Seeming curious, he wonders, "How?"

With a half-smile, I draw my sword. "We brawl. I haven't lost one of those fights once."

"Sakura, how would you defeat a multi-weapon-possessing Elf that is over three times your height?" Meta Knight tries to remind me. Ever the voice of reason. That's one of the things I love about him.

"He's a lot shorter than a monster, number one. Number two, his Hammerspace inventory doesn't work without magic, so all he's got is his sword. And number three, I'm a Ninja. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve," I assure him with a grin, earning myself a worried glance. "Anyway, Mister Link. Do you wish to challenge me? A fair duel, following all of the guidelines set down in the Star Warrior code of honor."

After thinking about for a moment, he nods. "No tougher than beating a Chuchu."

"There is more than one Chuchu?" Meta Knight murmurs, confused.

"'Chuchu' is an ally in the Kirby world, but a gooey species of enemy in the Zelda world," I explain briefly, then shake my head at the Elf. "And I'm afraid I'm more difficult to beat than one of those blobs. Come on, then. To the stage."

"Stage?" they both wonder, while Geo chuckles.

I lead them to the auditorium, then up onto the stage. "Just like in Smash Bros.," I explain with a smirk. "Let's brawl."

"Ready?" Geo calls out, trying and pretty much failing to copy the voice of the guy from the game, while Meta Knight watches nervously. Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence.

"Always," I agree eagerly. Even now, I love dueling. Link just nods.

With an excited grin, Geo holds a paw up and orders, "Fight!"

Link tries to attack, but I hop out of the way. Thinking quickly, I continue to stay close to the ground. My height is my advantage here. I can try to trip him, and as long as I stay short, he has to really bend over to attack me.

Laughing, I dance out of the way of each of his attempted strikes. "Here, I'll make it a bit easier for you," I grin at him teasingly, spreading my wings out from where they were folded against me and flying up to where he can reach me better, fighting sword-to-sword for a moment, then suddenly soaring around him and kicking him in the back. He doesn't fall over, but I think I've still got the upper hand.

Spinning around, he strikes at me again, but I duck it and parry. He dodges gracefully. I'll admit, this is the first challenging duel I've experienced in quite awhile. And boy, am I enjoying myself.

Landing, I take a swing at his legs, which he leaps right over. But as he lands again, I repeat the same move from the other direction, and it trips him up. He falls sideways, and I triumphantly point my sword at his throat.

With a grin, I question, "Who's just a puffball now?"

For a moment, he seems annoyed, but then he laughs and allows me to try and help him up. "Good warrior," he says, looking at me with a nod.

Smiling, I nod back, then grow serious. "Whereas it's a pleasure to meet you, it's really bad that you're here. That's the heroes from half of the inhabited points. Hopefully the others don't show up anytime soon."

Meta Knight and Link give each other a worrying glance, then look back at me. Clearing his throat, Meta Knight asks me, "What happens when they all arrive?"

"The end of all worlds," I reply. "We will all crash into the end of all worlds. All barriers of time within the console's memory will fall apart. All of the different times will be shoved together at once. All at the same moment, every one who was ever alive will be alive again, but only for a moment. Both wars against Nightmare will be happening at the same time as Tedium is trying to end things. Every adventure that the heroes have ever gone on will be happening again, all at the same time. But it will only last for a split second. The computer will finish crashing, and it will all be over. Everyone still inside will be deleted, and we'll be left with an empty shell, just so much plastic and circuitry. You guys are vital files. Without you, the computer can't go on, or that's my working theory, anyway."

"But we have not always been there," Meta Knight reminds me.

"But the box always knew you were eventually going to be there. There was always eventually going to be a Kirby. There was always going to be a Link, and a Meta Knight, and a Dedede, and a Bandana Dee, and a Magolor, and a Nightmare, and a Mario, and a Luigi, and a Bowser, and a Ganondorf, and an Ash, and a special Pikachu, and a Giovanni, and a Zelda, the list goes on and on. You guys have always been meant to be in there. And then there's the files like me and Solar and Geo. The 'Randoms,' we call them. Just random files the computer designed itself to populate the points, give you guys someone to save, cause a hero without a distressed populace is nothing. We're pretty much pointless. Nothing would be different if we weren't there. Everything keeps going without us."

Voice gentle, Meta asks me, "Then why did the Void appear as soon as you were gone?"

Frowning, I question, "What Void?"

After giving our Elvin friend another worrying look, Meta Knight turns back to me. "At the edge of the Galaxy is a giant black void, full of floating light-green letters and numbers. It is eating away at the edge, slowly but surely drawing closer and closer to Nintendo World."

"Shotzo," I mutter again, then start pacing. "System crash, it sounds like. The real meaning of crashing into all worlds, I guess. Makes sense. This is so, so bad. Duh, it said 'begin crash' when Solar and I left. But we're not vital files. We're Randoms. Ugh, I don't understand! Why did our absence start a crash? We're pointless, useless, worthless files. We're expendable. Why is this happening?" Groaning, I sit down on the stage and start rubbing my forehead with my paw.

"The hole that sucked up Link and us Dreamlanders also devoured Ash, Pikachu, Mario, and Luigi," Meta Knight tells me. "They are already between dimensions, now we just have to wait for them to show up on this end."

Saddened even more by this new bad news, I murmur, "Am I ever going to see Dreamland again?" This is all my fault... all my fault...

Clerk shows up just then with a hoodie and jeans for Link, which he quietly hands to him and turns to go. "Clerk," I call before he leaves.

Silently, he turns and looks at me.

Concerned, I ask, "Are you all right?"

Nodding, he replies, "I just want to do whatever I need to do to stay safe."

Accepting that answer, I nod. "Go on, then. You can always talk to me, okay?"

Nodding again, he just walks out. I'm worried about him, now. He's acting even quieter than he normally does.

When Clerk showed up, he was just five years old. He's twenty-five, now. But like everyone else who showed up here as a kid, I've been his big sister. I've been the one who trained him, taught him, took care of him. Maybe I haven't spent enough time with him recently. I don't know. I feel like I don't know anything these days.

Anyway. "Well, let's leave Link alone so he can change. Come on Geo, Meta Knight. Let's go listen to the ones who want to sing, if they're still there," I sigh and lead them out. Meta offers me his paw, and I accept it with a shy and weary smile. Paw-in-paw, we head out of the auditorium.

Something makes my head snap up. "What is wrong?" Meta asks, sounding concerned again. I wish I didn't worry him so much. I wish I could just magically murmur a spell and make everything better, just like the way it used to be. But there's no magic. And it's my fault we're here.

No magic. My fault. No magic. My fault.

Shaking my head, both to reassure him and to get rid of my thoughts, I reply, "Nothing." It's just... I could have sworn I saw a camera flash. That's weird, but not too strange. We've got a few photographers among us.

I just need to let myself relax and enjoy the evening. This is our safe place. We're safe here. Nothing bad is going to happen.

Breathe, Sakura. Meta, Kirby, and Bandana are here now, and they're safe, for now. You need to relax and just try to be happy, even if that is easier said than done.

*********************************************************************

Awhile later:

Clerk's POV:

Hurriedly, I rush through the storm into the NYU science building. Please, let someone be there, even though it's late. Please, let them be willing to work with me.

Inside, a lone college girl in a lab coat sits at a sleek, fancy iMac computer, dyed-black hair falling over her geek-style glasses and piercing green eyes.

"Admission forms can be found at the main office," she mutters, bored-sounding, without even looking up.

Silently, I stand there and wait for her to look up.

"Admission forms can be found at the main office," she repeats, finally glaring up at me.

"That's not what I came for," I disagree, pulling an envelope out of the pocket of my hoodie. Pulling out all the photos inside, I hand them to her.

Frowning, she starts to flip through them, then squawks and throws them on the desk. "Wh-what are those... things?!?" she hisses in disgust. "They're disturbing!"

The photos are of all of the Other Dimensioners. Toads, Goombas, Waddle Dee, Star Warriors, Elves, Manga-Heads, all sorts. "They're aliens," I answer, forcing my voice to stay steady, biting back my guilt. "Think of all of the scientific advances that could be made by studying them. I can show you where they are."

"This isn't just some dumb hoax, is it?" she glares at me, eyes like knives. She scares me, like some sort of Medusa. "You'd better not just be some dimwit trying to freak me out."

"I'm not," I assure her, shaking my head. "I really can show you where they are, all of them." Taking a deep breath, I tell her, "In trade for them, I want amnesty." Pulling back my hood, I reveal my ears. "I'm one of them, but they also disturb me. I can get plastic surgery or something to get normal ears. I can act like a Human, I promise. But they're... dangerous. Look, most of them carry swords or other weapons. They're just biding their time, waiting for a good time to invade."

After staring at me in horror for a second, she then laughs darkly. "Why shouldn't we just keep you here and go looking for the others ourselves? Wouldn't that make more sense?"

"You won't be able to find them without me," I tell her truthfully. "Their leader- this one," I point to Tenshi no Sakura in the picture I snapped less than an hour ago of her and the new arrival holding paws, "is very cautious and observant. She'll move them all at the first tiny sign of discovery."

"Hm," she mutters, looking down at the picture, then up at me, over the tops of her glasses. "What's your name, freak?"

"Clerk," I answer truthfully, without thinking about it. That might have been stupid, giving her my real name.

"Cassidy," she replies coldly, the looks back at the photo. "Bring her and the masked blue freak with her to us, and then we'll talk about 'amnesty.' You have a week, and then we come looking ourselves."

Gulping, I nod. She scares me, and she's just a student. The actual teachers and scientists are probably even more frightening, even more cold and frigid, just like the cold, metal, antiseptic-y halls and rooms that they work in. "I'll bring them both." How, I don't know yet. I've got a week, I just need to make it count. I'll think of something.

Hurrying back out of the building, I bite my lip as more and more guilt pours into me. I try to shove it away, but it just keeps growing stronger. Mind whirling, I pull up my hood and run through the angry, pouring rain down into the nearest subway station, then discreetly slip on when the train stops. All the train ride home, my mind is moving at a million miles an hour.

I'm sorry, everyone. I just want to do whatever I need to do to stay safe.

I'm especially sorry to you, Tenshi no Sakura. But I don't think you'll always be able to protect us all, no matter how much you watch, how little you sleep. I'm just hurrying along the inevitable.

Please, forgive me, everyone.

I just want to do whatever I need to do to stay safe.

(Author's Note: Yes, some of the badguys in this book are going to be scientists. No, I do not think that scientists are evil. Well, I think that some scientists are probably evil, but not all scientists are evil. This is fiction. Any resemblance or similarity to persons living or dead is completely coincidental, yada yada yada. :) Also, the reason why this chapter is done so early today is I have to go to a wedding, (being the pastor's daughter,) so I had to do it this morning or not do it all today. Here's hoping that I don't make a complete fool of myself attempting to dance at the reception. <(;-_-)> )