Falspar's POV:

(earlier)

"Sir Arthur! Sir Arthur!" I shout as I careen into the castle library. Sir Arthur is standing and looking at a bookcase that is flickering like crazy, all of the books on it being replaced by solid book-shaped rectangles filled with the light-green code that makes up the Void. Everything has been acting like this all day today. In some places, stuff has actually burst out of its casing, casuing the code to go flying off into the Void, leaving whatever object it used to be no longer existent.

After he's nodded to acknowledge me, I force my voice to be calm and inform him, "Sir, the Void has reached the edge of the planet. We've got maybe an hour left before it's all..." my voice shakes, so I clear my thoat and try again, "Before it's all gone."

Nodding again, he finally turns to look at me. "I hate this feeling of helplessness. I hate having to watch all of these people go to their deaths without being able to stop it. At least in the War there was comfort in the fact that all who died gave their lives to a noble cause. But this, this is just going to be innocent lives being taken for nothing, nothing! And there is no way to fight it or prevent it!" Angrily, he overturns a small table, making both me and the thread of pink Light resting in his helmet's ponytail jump, then turns back to the bookshelf and leans his head against it. I've actually never seen him this angry before.

Typically, when he gets mad, he gets quiet, just like Meta Knight. I'd always just assumed that Sir Arthur didn't have a limit to how much he could take, unlike Meta Knight, who can eventually be pushed too far and rush at you in rage. Trust me, I've been on the receiving end of his anger a couple of times (always because of something stupid I did) and I can therefore tell you from experience that it's not fun. But apparently, even Sir Arthur has a breaking point, where it all finally is just too much.

Just then, Dragato hurries in. "Nearly everyone in the Galaxy has been placed on this island, Sir. If there was panic, people would end up getting trampled." That's when he notices the table lying on its side with a shattered vase lying next to it that fell off of it, making him take a deep breath and a step back. Just like me, he's not interested in being the recipient of Sir Arthur's anger.

The way I see it, Sir Arthur is sort of like a lion. If he wants to protect you, he'll protect you with all he's got, including his life. But if you try to hurt those under his protection, he will go after you with everything he's got. You always want to have him on your side.

Silently, Sir Arthur just shakes his head, then sadly orders. "Try to keep everyone calm. Remind them... remind them that death is only the next great adventure."

Dragato and I stare at each other in shock. Stuttering, I disbelievingly exclaim, "S-sir, you can't possibly mean that you have-"

Nodding once, Sir Arthur interrupts, "I am sorry, Falspar, but yes. It is time to give up, boys. We've done all we can. If this is what the Star Power intends for us, if this is where our paths must end, then there is nothing we can do to change it. All we can do is face it bravely, and with strong hearts." After a long pause, he asks, "Where is Nonsurat?"

"Here, Sir," Nonsurat murmurs quietly, walking in through the door. The three of us place our hands behind our backs and stand at attention.

Looking at us proudly, he says, "I am very proud of what all of you have become. You have lost family, lost friends, lost love, all for the sake of protecting your Galaxy. You are all true warriors, and I am honored to call you my sons."

The three of us stare at each other, then all smile to ourselves. Arthur has felt like our father for a long time, and we've even referred to him as such when talking to each other sometimes, but now it's official. Of course, this also means that we're brothers, which also feels right.

"Thank you, Sir," I reply for all three of us. "We are honored to call you our father."

Nodding warmly at us, he then orders, "Now, go try to keep everyone calm. I am coming with you."

Minutes pass, feeling only like seconds. Eventually, the time comes when we can see the Void at the edge of the horizon, on the calm ocean. Girls and children begin to cry, and even some of the men begin to sniffle, but no one panics. That's one thing about all of the people on this planet, every tribe and race. Maybe they can be made to become complacent, but when duty calls, they are always ready to answer with a brave, "Here I am. I am ready to serve my Galaxy."

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

Heather's POV:

(at the same time)

"Oh, Honesty-san. I never even got to tell either of them their birthday," I sniffle, hiding my face in my medicine shop apron. "Neither of them even knows where they came from. Kirby-kun doesn't know how he earned his name, and Sakura-chan doesn't know why we named her 'Yuki.'"

Gently, Kawa comforts me, "Okaasan, maybe not, but at least we got to see Kirby-kun and Sakura-chan again. That is far more than we had ever hoped for, isn't it?"

Nodding, I try to agree aloud, but find that my voice will no longer let me. It's not fair when a mother must be separated from her children, but it's even worse when the children barely even know who they are, or who their family is, or of the generations that came before them.

Honesty is also on the verge of crying. "And my son... At least I know he made it through the War now, but there was so much more I wanted to tell him. If I had known that day was the last time I was going to tell him 'I love you,' I would have said it so much more than I did." Giving a sob, she goes on, "I should have said it so much more than I did, all along."

Nodding again, I actually burst into tears, and Kawa hugs me and tries to shush me. I don't know what I would do without Kawa, my last child that was left to me. She keeps me strong. Charcoal would be so proud of all three of his children that I know are still alive; Kirby, Kawa, and Sakura. I only wish I knew what became of Ame.

Weakly, I look up at the black, dead sky around us. All of the stars, gone. It takes me a moment, but I find the part of the sky that used to hold the star that had always been special to me, a small star that never twinkled very bright. For some reason, I'd always thought of that star as Charcoal's star.

Honesty notices where I am looking and smiles a bit through her tears. "Truth's star was over there." (Truth was her husband's name.) She points to one corner of the sky.

Smiling sadly and dreamily, Kawa tells me as she points, "Musouka's star was over there." Musouka, or 'Dreamer,' was a young Star Warrior boy Kawa fell in love with when they were in their late teens. A few years later, they were engaged to be married, but then the War happened... I'm sure I don't need to tell you the rest.

Silence falls over our group as the Void draws ever closer. Soon, it will all be over. At least Nightmare hasn't shown his face today. That would just make everything even worse.

Just as we all finally lose all hope and close our eyes, waiting for the end to come, there is a blinding flash of light. It begins to feel as if we are soaring, and I suddenly get a terrible headache. It seems like everyone else around me is experiencing the same thing, as most of the children start whimpering or whining in fear and discomfort.

After several minutes, it begins to feel like I am falling.

And then, just as quickly as it started, it ends. All is calm.

I keep my eyes tightly shut, but force myself to open them when a joyous cheer starts to go up around me. My eyes grow huge as I see what has taken place. "What? Where is the Void? What's happened?"

The stars are all back, all of the millions and millions of them. The crescent moon shines, and all of the ocean sits there, still in perfect calm. We can see the other planets around us, and all of the inanimate objects have quit flickering, and those that had disappeared have returned. But... how can this be possible?

Several starships take off as some of the pilots who have signed up for the new 'GSA' take off to have a look-see. Several minutes later, they all come racing back, and the pilots all have a race to get out of their ships and tell us the news first. Of course, one manages to beat the others, a young Toad boy.

Grinning, he shouts out to us as loud as he can, "The Void is gone! Everything is back! We're safe!"

Frowning, I wonder who did it, who saved us all. It must have been someone. But my pondering only lasts for a second before I begin rejoicing. "We're saved! We're saved!"

Laughing, Kawa gives me a huge hug. All around us, people start to dance and sing. It's a cacophony of joyful sounds, but a pleasant cacophony.

Slowly, I lift my eyes to the stars, then close my eyes. "Thank you, sir. Thank you for sending whoever it was you sent to save us."

Magolor's POV:

(right now)

Floating back and forth in worry, I turn to Kirby and Bandana and squawk, "They better not get themselves deaded, or I'm gonna have to hunt them down and kick them for it. Going off and playing the hero... Do they have any idea how much we're worrying about them?!?"

Tiredly, Kirby giggles, "'Lor, you sound like their mom. Chill out."

Shaking my head and crossing my arms, I disagree, "Well, someone's gotta worry about 'em. They had better not get themselves deaded."

Groaning, Bandana reminds me, "You've said that like a jillion times already, Magolor."

Giving him a mischievous look, I taunt, "Oh, and I'm going to say it like a jillion more, Mr. Dee. They had better not get themselves deaded."

In order to keep ourselves calm while we wait for news from the others, we've been doing stuff. Sakurai-guy (heh! that rhymes! oh yeah, I'm a genuis,) has been playing some game on a thing he pulled out of his pocket called a 3DS, and I've been reading Wattpad on Author Lady's iPod-

(GIVE IT BACK, MAGOLOR.)

-I was reading Wattpad on Author Lady's iPod, anyway. Kirby and Bandana have been chatting, the other Star Warriors and the one Manga-Head that hangs out with them have been discussing past adventures, Rose and Thdwee have been looking through a telescope Byte has in the window, and Rinda and Geek Toad have been playing chess. 

Just then, Rose starts screaming at the top of her lungs. "Guysguysguysguysguys!!!"

"What is it? What is it?" Rinda squeals, but Rose just points to the telescope, which Rinda looks through and then starts also screaming. The two girls grab each other's arms and start jumping up and down.

Rolling my eyes, I mutter, "Geez, you'd think there was a popstar or something up there, the way they're freaking out." Floating over, I peer through the telescope and notice that there seems to be, like, a bajillion more stars out there than there were a while ago. That's when I notice what started the scream-fest.

"OH MY STARCUTTER, THERE IS A POPSTAR UP THERE!"

Just like the two girls, I start shrieking with excitement. "They did it! They did it! Princess and Meta-Not and Geek-Girl did it!"

"What? What?" everyone else demands.

Shivering in pure joy, I press a button on the telescope that projects the current image the lens sees onto the wall. It takes a moment to load, but then everyone can see it.

Distant and small, looking no different from a regular star unless you know what you're looking for, there is a starry-yellow star-shaped planet with rounded points and twin halos running around it.

Awed, Sakurai whispers, "The Planet Popstar. It's real. It's really real!" Tears in the corner of his eyes, he grabs Kirby and tosses him up in the air then catches him on his way back down several times. "Yatta! Yatta!" (They did it!)

Squealing with joy, Kirby cheers, "Everyone's safe! Everyone's gonna be okay!"

"Wait, what about Byte, Meta Knight, and Sakura?" Rose suddenly worries. Everyone falls silent as we try to think of a way to contact them. We all look at each other, then suddenly dash for the nearest computer.

Rose gets there first, and using what Byte has taught her, starts an email to her asking if they're all right.

After she sends it, we start to impatiently wait for an answer.

Sakura's POV:

(meanwhile:)

"Mm," I sigh happily as I start to wake up. Where am I? It's so warm, and I'm lying in something soft that smells so sweet... The air is the freshest, purest air that I have breathed in years. I must be dreaming... I can't let myself wake up, or it'll all be gone...

Ugh. Too late. I'm awake.

Blinking my eyes open, I see the branches of a cherry tree above me, blossoms floating gently down from it. A quiet grin spreads over my face as I realize where I must be.

There's only one cherry tree in the universe that has blossoms year-round.

Laughing, I sit up and close my eyes, tilting my face into the caressing sunshine that filters through the branches above me. The Fountain of Dreams calmly flowing not far away adds its music to that of the birds and the soft summer breeze.

I'm home.

After a moment, I notice that my wing doesn't feel bad anymore. Actually, it doesn't feel at all. I begin to panic, then realize that there is a soft, thin cloth on me. My Dimensional Cape.

Grinning even bigger, I spread my now-healthy wings out and stretch them, then let them float back down into being a cape.

That's when I remember that two other true warriors came here with me and begin to urgently look around me.

Thankfully, I soon see that Meta isn't too far from me, leaning back against the tree. He looks like he does on many summer afternoons, when he brings a book out to read and then ends up falling asleep. Calm, peaceful, young. I'll let him sleep a little bit longer, he just looks so happy.

After another moment, I see Byte. She ended up in one of the flower beds, and has crushed a bunch of ever-blooming tulips. Ah well, I can replant them.

With a happy sigh, I pull a pair of magic gloves out of the interior of my cape and put them on. After wiggling the mitten-like fingers for a moment, I then shake my head and pop them back off, going on to tuck them back into my cape. I'm just too used to paws-only now. Maybe a Star Warrior without magic gloves is a little bit unconventional, but hey, my whole life is unconventional.

Picking up my sword, I carefully run my hand along the flat part of its blade and grin at it. Then, I leap up without warning and start spinning and twirling and jabbing around the Star Warriors' Garden, doing a warrior's ballet through imaginary enemies. It feels so good to have it back. The Cherry Star Sword is light, graceful, beautiful, just like a cherry blossom; nothing like the heavy, bulky metal swords that I've been using the past two decades. Having it at my side again is wonderful.

After several minutes, I hold out my hand, and its sheath appears. It's even more beautiful than I remembered. In wonder, I stare again at the cherry blossoms all so painstakingly sewn together, just like I did when I first received it under this tree. This tree will always be one of my most favorite places in the universe.

Finally, I go back over to Meta and push his mask out of the way so I can kiss his forehead. Quietly, I tell him, "Meta, wake up. We're home."

Slowly, he blinks his open, just like I did. Still mostly asleep, he touches a paw to my face and smiles blearily. "Sakura, have I ever told you before that you are beautiful?"

Blushing, I laugh, "You've never said it outright like that, no."

Smiling warmly now, he murmurs, "Remind me to say it more often, then." Closing his eyes again, he sighs happily. "Are we really in Dreamland, or I am still dreaming?"

Grinning, I agree, "No, we're really in Dreamland. It's awful quiet though, isn't it?" I start to frown, worried that maybe only the planet came out of the console. Everyone was supposed to come out, not just the planet.

Frowning himself, he gets up and pulls his mask back down over his face, then finds a pair of magic gloves in his cloak and puts them on. His eyes are glowing yellow again, which is a little bit sad. I liked being able to see his real eyes all the time, but oh well. A moment later, he draws his cloak around himself, then looks over at me and wonders, "Where is Byte?"

"Over there," I assure him with a laughing grin and a point in her direction, "murdering the poor, innocent flowers."

A smirk in his voice, he mutters, "Such unrestrained violence should not be tolerated."

Laughing, I then question, "So how shall we punish her?"

Mischievously, he goes over to the Fountain of Dreams, (which she's lying right beside) climbs up onto the side, and then uses his foot to splash some of the pure (but cold) water over onto her face.

"Wait what??" Byte gasps as she bolts upright, then narrows her eyes as she sees two Star Warriors snickering at her. With a wicked grin, she suddenly pushes Meta into the fountain, then grabs me and throws me in too.

Sputtering, we both get back up and glare at her, then glance at each other and start to laugh.

Just then, my pink thread of Light comes joyfully zooming in out of nowhere, glomping me and causing me to fall back down into the water again, then doing the same thing to Meta, then me again. After we've managed to get it to calm down and have climbed back out of the fountain, it wraps around us, shoving us close together, and then ties itself into a knot.

Blushing, I mutter at it, "You scared we'll leave you again or something, or are you just being pushy?" Its ends shrug at me happily, making me giggle a little bit.

Also blushing underneath his mask, Meta wonders aloud, "Did you tell it to do that?"

Shaking my head fiercely, I firmly disagree, "No!"

Chuckling softly, he assures me as he wraps his arms around me, "For the moment, I do not really mind."

"Mush! Mush!" Byte yelps at us, then clutches at her throat and starts fake-gagging, making us both narrow our eyes at her in irritation.

Rolling my eyes at her, I mutter, "Immature," while Meta nods once in agreement.

Laughingly, Byte sticks her tongue out at us, then goes over and lies down under the cherry tree with a happy sigh. "Dude, a girl could get used to this."

Smiling, I close my eyes and lean against Meta as I murmur, "I definitely agree with that, Byte, completely and totally."

A smile in his voice, Meta softly agrees, "I could too."

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

Dark Sakura's POV:

(meanwhile)

"Well, would you look who's back, nya?" I purr from where I'm stretched out on a castle wall. The Void left a few minutes ago, so Dark Meta Knight and I warped back here to Dreamland, and now I can see our copies hugging each other over in the Star Warriors' Garden while some sort of tall creature I don't quite recognize watches them in amusement. "You know, nya, we have every legal right to go and kill both of them. They were banished, after all."

Disinterested, he glances over at them for a long moment, then slowly starts to shake his head. "Not yet. Let them enjoy their victory for a short time."

Making a face at him, I mutter, "Are you insane, nya? Why on earth would we let them enjoy anything?"

Drawing his cloak around himself, he chuckles darkly. "In order to only make it even more painful when we do make our move." His gaze changes just slightly, from our stupid copies to the Fountain of Dreams.

A dark grin spreading over my face, I giggle, "Sir Dark, are you coming up with some sort of a plan?"

He nods once.

"An evil plan, nya?"

He nods again.

Purring happily, I sigh, "I like evil, nya. This should be fun."

Nodding again, he agrees, "I must agree with you." Turning around suddenly, he retreats back into the shadows of the darkest rooms in the castle, but pauses at the door and tells me before he leaves, "This should be very fun, indeed."

Look out, copies. It might take us awhile, but you're going to regret having forgotten us. We'll make sure of it.

Nightmare's POV:

(meanwhile)

"So the Void is gone?" I ask for confirmation from Customer Service. Of course, it didn't hurt us at all. My fortress had a spell placed around it to protect it. Legs crossed, I'm sprawled out sideways in a desk chair. I have to admit, Solar does good work with his magic and potions and such. I look as young as I did clear back at the beginning of the First Star Warriors' War. (A.N. If you want to see what he looks like now, check out the fanart that I have set as my profile pic right now.)

Nodding once, he agrees, "It is, Sir. But there's something... weird."

Narrowing my eyes, I demand, "What do you mean, there's 'something weird?' The only 'something weird' I want in my universe is my monsters."

"Your universe?" he mutters in disbelief, then notices my evil, devious grin at him and gulps. "It's just... There's some new planets that I've never seen before. Most of them are lifeless, but there's one that's... different."

Frowning, I pull up my map of the universe into midair and look at it, grinning fondly at all of the planets that are now empty and barren because of me. I am currently on Star World and have already removed all of the life from the Startropolis area. Within months, I will have turned the whole place into my dead, metal fortress. Beautiful, isn't it? Cold, dead, loveless... just the way I like things.

Carefully, I pull the new planet out of the map so I can inspect it better. It is blue, with green pieces of land here and there, and white at the tops and bottoms. Similar to Star World, only quite a bit bigger.

With a twisted smirk, I begin to gently pet the planet with one hand. "Well, shall we welcome the new planet to our Galaxy?"

Nervous, Customer Service agrues, "But, my lord. We have no way of knowing what sort of creatures are on that planet. What if they can actually put up a fight?"

With a dark laugh, I throw the planet onto the floor and bounce it like a child's rubber ball a couple of times, then unceremoniously flick it back into its place on the map. "Customer Service, how many civilizations do I have to completely wipe out before you can believe that I am stronger than anything else in the universe? I even supercede that puny Star Power, I destroyed billions of his 'children' while he sat idly by. Whatever is on this planet, they will not be there long." Going into commander mode, I order, "Launch a full-scale attack on this planet. It just got here, I want it gone again before nightfall. Am I understood?"

Nodding once, he agrees, "Y-yes, Lord Nightmare. It will be done as you command."

"Of course it will be," I chuckle, flopping back down into my chair and looking over at the new planet with evil pleasure. It will be fun, watching all of the life be drained from it, watching the blue turn black and the green turn brown and the white disappear entirely. "My wish is the universe's command. Soon, and very soon, all will bow only to me. For I am the only one strong and powerful enough to warrant their awe and honor. There is none like me anywhere else. Is there, Customer Service?"

"O-of course not, Sir. You are the most powerful entity in the universe," he stutters in agreement as he tells the monsters to move out via the computers. "But don't you think that maybe you should leave some people alive, just so you have someone to rule?"

Narrowing my eyes at him, I walk over to him and kneel down so that I match him in size. "Customer Service, are you growing... soft?"

Shaking his head urgently, he disagrees, "N-no, Sir."

Smirking, I murmur to him, "You know, I really do think you have outlived your usefulness. I am sure that there are hundreds of monsters that would kill to get your job..."

His eyes grow wide with fear. "While I'm sure there are, S-Sir, I really do like this job..."

Shaking my head, I sigh, "Well, I am afraid it is no longer 'your' job. Someone, come here!" A Poppy Bros. Sr. rushes in, eager to please. Grinning at Customer Service in a twisted way, I ask the newcomer, "When was the last time the new Kirasakin was fed?"

"About a week ago," the Poppy Bros. Sr. chirps back, grinning deviously over at Customer Service.

"Please, Lord Nightmare, have mercy!" Customer Service pleads, grabbing ahold of my leg. "Please, I won't ever question your orders ever again!"

Laughing darkly, I tell him, "Mercy is for the weak, like the Star Power. I will never show mercy. Servant, take him away."

I completely ignore Customer Service's pleading screams as the Poppy Bros. Sr. drags him away to the monster storage room. With a sigh, I sit back down in my seat and go back to smiling evilly at the new planet.

The time has come for me to quit hiding and biding my time. The time has come for me to attack.

First, I will get rid of all that is Light. After barely any time at all, all that will be left will be hatred, lust, bloodthirst. Nothing Light. No love, no compassion, no honor, nothing.

And very soon after that, there will be nothing at all left in this Galaxy, for everything is weak when exposed to Darkness, and I will allow nothing weak to remain. Soon, and very soon, I will be the only thing left. The whole entire universe will... be... mine. "Hahahaha... hahahahahaha... AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"