Nightmare looked at his own wrist, then looked at 02. His expression was wan. "I was hoping it'd hit zero when I met an alternate of mine." He blinked a few times, then what 02 said hit him. "Oh. Right. Guess it's not as bad as it could have been." He'd always only had one, himself, so anything else would have been far more awkward.

Nightmare wouldn’t even accept that small bit of help. Jin would’ve let loose a retort of exasperation, but it seemed the Emperor had sensed the same thing he did. The cloaked being soared across the room in an instant, great claws outstretched to impact upon the door about a second or two before whoever was out there tried to come in.

This startled the demon enough to take a few more steps back, though he didn’t run into the wall behind him.

Even worse, the other demon beast out there just so happened to be Malphas himself. Jin wasn’t afraid exactly, but given everything else, he could certainly say his anxiety was beginning to rise. Nightmare would probably keep anything from getting too out of hand, but there was also a chance of him lashing out if he thought his son was in danger.

Ideally, it probably would’ve been best for Jin to stay silent, to just focus on remaining unnoticed until Mal gave up and went to do something else. Unfortunately, the way Nightmare responded would probably make sure the other demon kept trying to get in. Jin speaking up would only make things worse, but he just couldn’t help himself, it was entirely too ludicrous to his mind. “Taxes? Really? Shouldn’t everyone else in the empire be paying you instead?”

Almost as soon as Jin said it, he realized the stupid thing he just did, letting out a faint little gasp of shock. This was going to be so bad…

It was a nonsensical thing to say, for sure—but it was the first thing to pop into Nightmare's mind, and he had scrambled for anything to make Mal go away for even a moment.

When Jin spoke, he turned and growled, a sound like thunder. He could feel the demon beast on the other side freeze and boil at the same time.

"Nightmare?" The demon beast's voice was high and strained. "Why does it sound like I'm in the room with you, but I'm out here?"

Nightmare rolled his eyes, snarling out of desperation. "Go to sleep. You're sleepy."

"Please, Nightmare," Malphas said, sounding desperate. "This is incredibly dangerous! What if he tried to do something to you? Or me? I know it's hard for you but please, it'd be much safer if you took care of him right now! I'd even do it for you!"

He's using himself against me, Nightmare thought, and glanced to Jin again. "I have it handled. You needn't involve yourself. Go."

To his complete and utter surprise, Malphas did. After several seconds of trying to detect the demon beast, Nightmare relaxed. He could feel the full effects of the day's events on him; rest sounded more appealing than the entire universe right now.

What Nightmare didn't see was Mal standing at the corner of the hall, balling his fists and releasing them over and over. He'd been given an order...but was it wise to follow that order? Nightmare's fixation on these alternates would be detrimental in the long run. Didn't one of them say they wanted to destroy Nightmare? That was what Mal remembered.

He made up his mind. If Nightmare wouldn't look after himself, Malphas would. He strode down the hall, looking for a demon beast—any burly one would do.

Meanwhile, in the room, Nightmare addressed Jin. "You've...overstayed your welcome. You need to leave now."

"n-nightmare?" inwardly cursing herself for stuttering, drawcia regained her composure. "unfortunately, i have no way of paying and no interest in your wares," the witch admitted. "i have my brush, and that is all i require," drawcia noted waving her paintbrush midair. 

Not as amusing as he was hoping, but it was something at least.

"Most people say things like that," Nightmare replied. "They believe they have everything they need. Then they see something new and realize they do need it." He suddenly shoved a hand into his cape and appeared to rummage for something. He never took his eyes off Drawcia. "Just wait a second. Look at this thing. You may surprise yourself."

"You don’t even have a—" Jin blinked in surprise behind his shades. No delivery system at all? Wow, these guys were even worse off than he thought. No wonder they’d gone without paying his human counterpart; not only was there the principle of the thing, they probably just couldn’t afford it either. It… probably wasn’t a good idea to bring up the fact he paid their bill at the moment. if at all.

The base was rather run down, Nightmare and Malphas must have somehow ended up stranded here. “See, even if you won’t allow me to assist with a certain matter, you could still use my help otherwise. I have bases on Mekkai and Hotbeat back home, I could easily round up some parts for a communications system at the very least.”

Even as he said that, still eager to help as he was, an odd sense of foreboding came upon him. He wasn’t entirely sure why— wait a minute, was that another demon beast he sensed approaching? He wasn’t sure if his sixth sense regarding such things would even work on the demon beasts of this universe. If it did, though, this had the potential to be very bad indeed…

Nightmare looked at Jin. Was the demon beast looking down on him? "Don't need it," he said firmly. "Less interaction between universes, the better. I'm not a physicist but...probably not good." With that said, he looked away again.

The second he accepted help from anyone else, he admitted he was beneath them. Weaker. In need. At their mercy. The very thought of it made Nightmare squirm.

He could accept gifts, but agreeing to Jin's suggestion would be saying You have something I can't get otherwise. You can hurt me by withholding it. You can control me. There was also the issue of not being able to trust where it came from.

Nightmare stiffened at around the same moment Jin did, because he sensed the presence as well—though more empirically. His nose curled, and he flew across the room to the door. It'd be quite a sight to Jin, as his cape snapped open behind him, claws outstretched like he was pouncing on unlucky prey.

The door cracked under the sudden, great pressure of his hands. Wood splintered where his claws dug into the frame. This was a second or so before someone on the other side tried to open the door.

The attempt was followed with a "Huh? What?" and a swift rapping upon the door. "Nightmare, are you in there?" Malphas's voice.

"I'm fine," he blurted. "Everything's fine. Go...do the taxes. Something."

"What?"

Meta Knight let out a small chuckle. This Nightmare is certainly going to be in for a surprise. “I’m afraid you’re going to lose this bet, Nightmare. This war you speak of? It has not occurred in this universe. As a matter of fact, you have not been much of a threat in this universe. The moment you made yourself known to the people of Dreamland, you were immediately defeated by Kirby. You are clearly underestimating this universe. So if I am correct in assuming that you are an alternate of the Nightmare that was defeated, it would be a wise decision on your part to stay out of trouble.”

That response elicited a tilted head and furrowed brow from Nightmare. This universe was that fundamentally different? He'd never encountered a world where he existed but there was no war and he was defeated so easily.

It didn't change him, though. It was impossible; he was certain he'd entered universes where magic was different, but he never had trouble casting spells or even just existing. Why would his near-invincibility be any different?

It occurred to him the "Nightmare" they encountered could be a fake and they hadn't met the real one yet. But how would a doppelganger that perfect exist if he didn't? If he existed, why was there no war? If that Nightmare was him, why were his alternate's powers so inadequate?

He took on a much more serious tone when he spoke. "Hey. Tell me what he looked like." He spread his arms so his cape would open, revealing a starscape but nothing more. "Like this?"

And yet, even if Jin was willing to try, this was still a two way street. He couldn’t do much of anything if Nightmare was this unwilling to cooperate. Well, he could try, but he imagined the Emperor would be very unhappy if he were discovered.

Again he was denied, again told he shouldn’t help, that he wasn’t needed. All in all it was very reminiscent of what set him off the last time, but Jin was in a somewhat better mental state now. That and losing control in dangerous territory like this would certainly get him killed. He had too many responsibilities to do something so foolish, so he kept a firm grip on his emotions. Still, he couldn’t help but snark a bit at the entire situation. “You say you don’t need help, and yet you admitted you’re not sure of what to do, or if there’s even anything you can do.”

A little noise of frustration came out of the demon, entirely exasperated with things. “All right, fine, you win … for now, anyway. Unfortunately, I’m still stuck here until my mana reserves replenish enough to try a return spell, unless you have a delivery system I can try to wrangle into sending me home…”

He didn’t mention that he’d been gone long enough for Elsa to possibly start getting worried and come looking for him. He would deal with that if and when she appeared, but hopefully she wouldn’t.

"I would like to explore this base of yours, but I suppose you would rather have me staying put, or at least staying where you can still see me."

Nightmare didn't respond to the snark. Just because he didn't currently know what to do didn't mean he needed help. He may have spent most of his life solving his problems with fire and brimstone, but he had enough experience and knowledge to handle something more delicate. Right?

He shook his head at the mention of a delivery system. They were effectively stranded on this desert rock until another group contacted them or they found something they could use to communicate or travel across space. This base had been neglected and forgotten for years—some of the soldiers had lived here since it was first established, quite a while ago now. It was almost comedic he'd end up here.

"Stay put," he agreed, offering a small glance. If the two Customer Services met, the results would be beyond disastrous.

Nightmare shrugged. "I can't help it if it's so fragile. I used a mere couple hundred thousand volts this time." He joined them in poking the thing. "Is it salvageable?"

setting aside her sketchbook, drawcia looked up at the much larger being. “me? what could you possibly need me for?” the witch grumbled. his laugh was most definitely off-putting, she could not trust this strange wizard. “besides, i’ve just met you, why should i be doing any favors for you, especially one who won’t politely introduce himself!” 

"You seem to have misunderstood." He narrowed his eyes, his way of expressing amusement. "My business here involves you because I'm a businessman. But I do not require you specifically."

He was doing all this off the top of his head, so he had no idea where he was going with it or what, exactly, he was trying to do. All he knew was he wanted a bit of fun, preferably at the other person's expense. "My name is Nightmare," he said. That should elicit an amusing response!

Jin expected resistance, but nothing of quite this ferocity. Maybe this Emperor of Darkness had a problem with Felisians, if they existed in this universe? He knew his Nightmare only tolerated Elsa’s presence because she served a useful purpose (that and she had plenty of blackmail material, given her knowledge of a certain secret). Or this Nightmare just didn’t like cats, who knows?

Admittedly, he was starting to get a bit frustrated by most of his attempts at helping or getting closer ending up stonewalled by a certain floating sheet. Augh, Jin couldn’t remember his own Nightmare being this stubborn about things! Still, he had no intention of giving up just yet. “No, I don’t think you’re stupid. Elsa is my mother, and I trust her, that’s all. Since it’s obvious you don’t trust her, I won’t bring her up again. As for my motivation, well…”

That one took a bit of thinking, and once he came up with the answer he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to share it. There was a chance it could put someone he cared about at risk, but this might just be what finally allowed him to break through the impasse. “I have a sister. That may be why I am able to think of my counterparts like siblings rather than enemies or rivals, because I already have that sort of relationship. I try my best to look out for her … I would do the same for my alternates, if I were allowed.”

True, Jin hadn’t had much luck in that regard, but he was still willing to try.

Nightmare had never heard of Felisians, and as far as anyone knew, they didn't exist in his realm. He was still sore over what Elsa did a few days ago; Jin might have been the root cause of it, but it was still the cat who cast the spell and opened a portal right next to him. He figured it was her fault any of the other stuff happened that day.

Stubborn he was, and stubborn he'd stay if the subject was going to stay on this topic. Frustratingly enough, Jin's mention of his sister reminded him of his own sibling. But I don't care about other Nightmares like that even though—

He looked away again. He was already shut down, but now the desire to hide overwhelmed him. Sleeping for somewhere between three days and three years sounded good right now.

"...You should disregard that notion," he said. Why in the name of Betelgeuse did this man want to extend compassion to someone who only wanted to undo him? Was it some bizarre side-effect of having a preservation instinct? Nightmare couldn't die, so he didn't have one of those. It was the reason why he came off as so reckless. "Just...stop. It's fine if you don't help." He shifted around. "We—I don't need you." He realized how harsh that probably sounded half a second after saying it, but didn't move or make any indication he did.

"…A defeatist? Why?" …He could already guess the answer to that, going over what he had told Nightmare in his head, but, at the same time…he couldn’t see himself that way…

"Anyone who simply accepts their fate and thinks fighting is useless is a defeatist," he said. "I hate the defeatist attitude. If that's how you're going to be, I have better things to do."

"Nightmare hmmm….nope not a clue sorry about that. In my case you call me more ‘free minded’ then rotting brains." Giving a shrug might as well put it in a positive light, made him feel good no doubt. He caught on the ‘fear’ that was dropped things like these only have two way of sounding. Well might as well see it plays out.

"I’m not really the kind of guy that could remember famous names. Though Nightmare..is that a title of sorts?"

"Ehh? Really?" Universes where he didn't exist didn't occur to Nightmare yet, so he assumed this skeleton must have been from somewhere very distant.

"It's my name," he said, offering a shrug of his own. It wasn't his fault if people found it strange. "Though I suppose I have a title as well. I'm an emperor." He stated it in a blase manner, like meeting emperors was something the average person did daily.

Meta Knight stood in a stunned silence for a good bit. The only indication of his response to the demon’s words was the squinting of his eyes. Was this Nightmare for real? It took a while to recover, but once he did, the knight had an idea.

"I am not sure what sort of fantasy you think you are in, but you have made a terrible mistake in coming here. We have the Star Rod readily available at all times. By all accounts, you should be dead, not considered a person, but if you truly wish to test your luck, that can be fixed with ease."

"Meta Knight, you should know me from the war," Nightmare said. "I only place bets if I'm confident I'll win." He smirked at the puffball.

He was absorbed in trying to put down the knight, and didn't think through the situation as well as he should have. Did he really want the migraine the Star Rod would give him? No, but he wanted to prove Meta Knight wrong. "If you bring the Star Rod here, I'll take it as a threat. I have no mercy for those who threaten me." His smirk widened.