Nowhere To Go But Up

Heist

As the Starcutter landed in the garden once again, Magolor stood near the open door, motioning for Meta Knight to leave first. They flew through the window. "This your first time breaking and entering?" Magolor lightheartedly assessed the situation.

"No."

"Nice! Anyway, it's over here." Magolor went over to the door to the now empty bedroom.

"Sure it is." Meta Knight went the wrong way. Fine, be that way.

Magolor entered the bedroom and ripped the locked door clean off its hinges. There was a decently sized room on the other side that he imagined only the late queen had access to. It was filled with some diamond-studded frames of abstract art, some photos of her and Taranza from when they were younger, and a pot at the end with a single pink flower that looked to be long dead. The room told a story, and it was one Magolor was already familiar with. One of the few remaining petals lost its grip on the flower, and drifted down to the soil below.

There was another door behind the flower pot. Magolor opened it and saw the mirror he'd been looking for. He quickly scanned the features, checked his notes, yep, that's the one and only mirror. He didn't want to look at it for too long, so he turned to go get Meta Knight from wherever he had gone-

And saw the face of someone he'd never expected to see.

"What are you doing, Magolor?" Taranza spoke in a way that clearly indicated he was upset, but keeping a level head despite how difficult it must be for him to be here.

"Okay, before you do anything you'll regret, just let me explain." I need to think of something, and now! I can't just let him know that he killed her!

"Go right ahead. I have no plans to stop you. Please, explain away."

Just form a sentence! Open your mouth and say some words! "..." Say something! ANYTHING! At this point it doesn't even matter what! Just say something! "..." You fucking idiot. It doesn't even need to be a word. Just make a sound. Any sort of response at all that is visible and/or audible is better than this! "..." I feel like I'm wearing the crown again, but instead of killing my friends, I'm doing literally nothing. "I..." A SOUND! WE GOT A SOUND! LIGHT THE FIREWORKS! PUT IT IN THE HOLIDAY NEWSLETTER! MY VOCAL CHORDS JUST PRODUCED THE LETTER I! "I..." OH, WE'RE JUST WARMING UP FOLKS! GIVE ME ANOTHER FEW HOURS AND I'LL BE SAYING THINGS LIKE "O" OR "T"! "I'm..." GO! GO! GO! GO! GO! GO! "I'm robbing you because I'm evil." No. No. No. No. No. No.

"What?"

Well, I guess if it works, it works! Magolor grabbed the mirror and bolted for the door behind Taranza. He didn't make it very far. Taranza had thrown webs at him that had him pinned to the floor, mirror laying face-down in front of him. Hey, me? News flash: It didn't work. "No! Let me GO! THIS IS A RIGHTS VIOLATION!" He continued to struggle, getting more and more entangled in the webs with every effort used to summon something to get out.

His own panic, and the situation as a whole, drew his mind back to previous moments in his life. "I didn't do anything wrong! Please, let me out! It's... so... cold..." Reality faded, and his head was flooded with things he didn't want to remember. He cried out from deep within, his various pleas for freedom seeming almost completely unrelated to what was happening in front of him. The air around him crackled and distorted.

Taranza clearly didn't think things all the way through before stopping Magolor. He grabbed the mirror, then noticed a sheet of paper sticking out of Magolor's cloak. Taranza could tell that whatever was on that, he wanted to see it. Magolor was still writhing on the floor, screaming incomprehensibly, yet in a way that was deeply saddening. He released the web, hoping it would help him snap out of it, and while he was disoriented from his ordeal, Taranza snatched the paper out of his hood and ran out of the bedroom, holding the door shut from the outside.