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Chapter Text

The tiny Waddle Dee held his navy bandana in his hand and was assorting most of his materials. Let's see here. Spear? Check. Bandana? Check. Food? Check. "Alright, I think we might be ready. Let's go!" He shouted, pep ever present in his voice, inversely his companion sat on a stone taking up her easel and canvas. She looked over at him and grinned.

"I don't know why you're so eager all of a sudden. You're acting like you just at some Hyper Candy," he rolled his eyes at the snarky comment and adjusted the bandana he adjusted on his head. He looked around for a bit before ushering Adeleine's attention with his spear, pointing in the direction they were supposedly, supposed to go.

"If we hurry we might be able to make it to him!" The painter grabbed the tiny creature and held him up to meet her eyes.

"Waddle Dee, listen to me: You want me to go on some adventure with you and I don't even know why we're adventuring." He squirmed out of her soft hands and landed face-first on the ground.

"I can detail everything...just pick me up first," his voice muffled from the fluffy grass. The painter obliged and picked him up. He dramatically got up on the stone and started from the beginning. "So, this is what happened—"

Earlier that day, Kirby and Bandana Dee were playing tag together. Of course, it was their usual game, so nothing was out of the ordinary there, but Kirby wanted to take a break after the huge amount of running they did together. As the boys did their break Kirby found himself in Whispy's Woods eating an apple, although Dee couldn't spot what happened specifically,—more than likely because Kirby quite literally inhales his food—but he caught a small glimpse of the apple. It didn't look to be red or green like they normally are. It appeared purple in color. Almost black. After eating the apple, Kirby started to hack immediately and started acting very bizarrely, pushing Bandana Dee out of the way and storming out of Whispy's Woods to head for the meadows of Green Greens.

He finished his story and Adeleine set up her easel again and started to paint confusing the Waddle Dee greatly. After a second of quick strokes, out came a bottle of Pep Brew which she handed to Bandana Dee. "I heard that Pep Brews are good for curing colds or stomach illnesses. I think this is all he needs." Waddle Dee looked at her dumbly and dragged her relentlessly through the meadows, thus starting—or well rather forcing—their adventure to cure Kirby.

As the pair started walking their way through Celery Meadows, both decided to idly chat, though most of it was still centered around Kirby and Dee's skepticism on whether it was a bad reaction or something a bit more sinister. "I don't know..." he said cautiously, "I think that this could be more than some simple food poisoning."

"What makes you think that?"

"I've been around Kirby a lot more than you have recently. He can now harness the ability of poison, so there's no way that a mere apple could make him act all funky." Adeleine pondered the thought; being able to eat poison was something she could only think of Kirby doing—granted, who else would willingly do that? Dee popped open the Pep Brew and took a healthy swig. "Hey, this stuff isn't that bad. Haven't had one in a while..." The painter took wind of him downing the drink and wiped it from him, but by the time he finished, the bottle was now completely empty.

"That's for Kirby!"

"I was thirsty! Plus, if this would solve Kirby's illness this would be one-shot and we wouldn't want that, now would we?" Dee said slyly to the girl who was completely out of the loop.

"..One..Shot?" A sudden explosion happened snapping Adeleine from her confusion and Dee from his 4th wall breaking. "D-did you hear that?" Dee immediately sprung up and pointed his spear.

"Look over there!"

After another explosion there was a sudden burst of flames that started to spread across the grass, charring it immediately. Looking farther they could see a pink creature in the distance, it looked badly injured. Of course, they sprinted to it and saw it attempting to flutter its tiny wings—after further inspection, it appeared to be a Bronto Burt. After picking himself up he found himself face to face with the Waddle Dee and Human. "The village! It's on fire!" He screamed right in front of their faces. He frantically tried to flap his way back to head to the village, but he quickly fell back down due to his injuries. Adeleine inspected the small Bronto, his wings were singed.

"Do you know what happened?!" Adeleine asked, picking him up off the ground.

"No! One second I was tending to the gardens in the meadow and then all of a sudden I got attacked by a random fireball!"

"Don't worry, I'll check it out!" Dee said, always headstrong. "Adeleine, take care of him, please? I gotta investigate this..." Turning back to see Adeleine's response—that being a curt nod—he set off for the Bronto Village. His trek didn't take long and he actually found most of the villagers on the ground or sitting in the burning grass. Many of their wings looked to be damaged, but it wasn't anything Adeleine couldn't fix. As he continued his descent into the mostly burnt village, he saw another burst of fire collide against the side of the building, burning it down to nothing but ash. He held his spear mighty and approached the person causing all of the trouble.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" The figure turned around and appeared to be, "...Kirby?" He donned his Fire Copy Ability hat and continued his burning, much to the Waddle Dee's dismay—and disdain. "Kirby! We've been friendly with the Brontos for years! What are you doing this for?!" It wasn't until then that Bandana Dee got a good look at Kirby. His eyes looked like charcoal and his expression was vacant, lifeless almost. Dee steadily approached him, before jumping into the air and smacking him with the shaft of his spear. "This isn't you Kirby! Come back to your senses!"

Kirby rubbed his head and looked angrily at the Waddle Dee that was now beginning to test his patience. With a swift kick, he launched the wooden spear out of his hands, sending it into one of the burning buildings. Thankfully, he came prepared with a Parasol which was still wet.

Using big globs of water, he slung the giant canopy around and doused out several of the buildings and roads that were set ablaze by Kirby's uncharacteristic wrath. Now completely annoyed, Kirby sent a large flame his way and Dee was able to avoid the hot attack behind the Parasol. Although, due to the sheer heat of Kirby's fire, the canopy lost its wetness. He'd have to figure something out if he wanted to extinguish the rest of the town, though in hindsight he could've doused Kirby's Ability Cap, rendering him to his normal state. It was obvious that Kirby was now completely fixated on attacking Bandana Dee.

As the Dee fled, Kirby was hot—pun not intended—on his trail, sending one scathing fireball after the other. However, the game of cat and mouse ended prematurely and Dee was caught cornered between a building and the dangerous cream puff. Though quickly relying on his instinct he managed to leap into the air, avoiding Kirby's attack, and Parasol Dive straight onto him, crushing him into the ground, and giving him enough time to think.

Water...water...he thought to himself frantically searching around. "Aha! A fountain!" Just his luck, that his and Kirby's game of tag landed them both in the middle of the village. After leaping into the water and making the Parasol completely wet, he now stood face to face with Kirby. Dee slung a healthy amount of water his way, making the cap lose some of its flames. Kirby noticed and violently tackled the Dee into the fountain, which proved to be a poor decision on his part. The fountain water turned a sickly black and Kirby's Fire Ability was extinguished, reverting him back to his normal state. After a small struggle in the water, both kicked each other out and Waddle Dee was staring straight at him, though a realization suddenly loomed over him.

Kirby's a lot more lethal when he's in his normal form. Sure fire can do damage, but it can always be put out...but a powerful inhale?

Dee started to cower behind the Parasol shield before catching a glimpse of Kirby. His expression was unreadable and his eyes were still black, but instead of attempting to inhale him and end his journey then and there, he inhaled lightly and puffed his cheeks before flying away. There wasn't any fanfare, but Kirby being on the loose and being this unpredictable could leave Dreamland in a bit of trouble, but for now, the only thing Dee could do was look at the puffball flap his arms and hide in the clouds.

There was no telling where he could've gone from there.

Time had passed and night fell onto the village.

Everyone was a little shaken, but Dee was able to stop the threat of Kirby, while Adeleine was able to heal and treat anyone's burns. The worst injury was a slightly torn wing, so it was good that Kirby hadn't done that much damage, but the village and buildings were a different story.

The esteemed headmaster of the Bronto Burts—who appeared to be much larger than the average Bronto—gathered all of the townspeople, including Bandana Dee and Adeleine. "Thank you both for saving our quaint town and people. Kirby was in the village just the other day helping us grow our famous Celery, so whatever made him come around like that was completely unexpected." She stopped her flying and landed on the ground.

"In fact, this reminds me of the Spring of '92," she shudders to herself. "Kirby hasn't bothered us ever since..."

Bandana Dee intervened, "Ma'am that wasn't Kirby. Something had to have been controlling him. He didn't look right..." Adeleine gave a confirming grunt, further backing the Waddle Dee's claim. The headmaster put a wing to her face and hummed, before giving a slightly reluctant nod.

"Bandana Dee, you've saved our village countless times, so I believe you. But what will you do about Kirby?" Both Adeleine and Dee looked at each other sheepishly.

"Well, we haven't gotten to that part just yet...but we'll sure as heck try our hardest!" Dee courageously spoke, putting the headmaster at ease.

"Is there anything I can do to repay you both?" The Waddle Dee and girl looked at each other and smirked—well more Adeleine than Bandana Dee.

Free hospitality is always considered to be a great gift. They both stayed in the village's inn and got treated to the best service the Bronto Burts could muster. It was nothing but the finest fruit and vegetables that were grown in the plentiful gardens on the outskirts of town.

After a glorious feast to make even King Dedede full, both Adeleine and Bandana Dee boarded in one of the rooms for the night. There was only one bed, but Dee generously gave it to Adeleine who shrugged the gesture off. "You know, I didn't do that much. All I did was paint Maxim Tomatoes and bandages for everyone." She looked at Bandana Dee who was waving her off, but she still decided to continue, "You're the one who should have the bed. Besides, all I did was just watch from the sidelines."

"But even with that, you still saved many families." Bandana Dee took off his navy bandana and rested it on the window sill, next to his trusty, spotted Parasol. "You did good." She smiled to herself slightly.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it. We gotta find Kirby in the morning, but right now, we should probably rest for tomorrow," the sentence was followed by a large yawn. "Goodnight!"

"Goodnight, Dee."

Chapter Text

Morning came quickly and both were ready to head off. Bandana Dee still carried the charred Parasol and Adeleine was equipped with more paint and a few other supplies for her painting. After their waves of goodbyes to the residents of Bronto Village, the two set off to find Kirby. Thankfully, a young Bronto Burt was able to help the pair and located Kirby's whereabouts. According to him, he went into Whispy's Woods, so that seemed to be their destination.

Now in the meadows, the pair start to chat idly.

"Did you sleep alright?" Dee's attention shifted to the artist, "I saw a little bit of the fight and you looked kinda tired. Are you sure you wouldn't have rather slept on the bed?"

"I'm perfectly fine," he said trying to hide a yawn. It was pretty obvious and the not-so-subtle gesture made Adeleine laugh.

"So chivalrous! You're starting to make me blush~" she cooed in a mocking manner, which made Dee groan. Their conversation was cut short as Dee started to get slightly nostalgic as he passed by these meadows. He started to reminisce about past events, many adventures starting right in these very fields. He looked at Adeleine who was still smiling and then spoke up.

"Remember when we all first met here in these meadows?" Adeleine nodded. "I remember it like it was yesterday," he, Adeleine, Kirby, and King Dedede set out to help Ribbon with her Crystal problem and defeat Dark Matter for the last time. It was so many years ago, but he loved the experience. He loved getting his hands dirty, being able to help Kirby instead of dreading any time he was walking next to him. Their friendship grew and so did the King's respect for him. Due to helping stop such a threat, he was promoted to be his right-hand man. Got into spear training and of course, the rest is history.

"It's been such a long time ago," Adeleine said, admiring the plains, the area barely changed, outside of a few more trees planted around the area—more than likely due to some of the Bronto Burts. She was pretty young at the time and wasn't used to going on such a grand adventure, when before she'd keep herself busy by just drawing on the walls of Strawberry Castle in Cloudy Park or if she was in Dreamland, Whispy's Woods. It was actually kind of scary for her, going on a planet-hopping journey to defeat this greater evil. She was deemed a hero but compared to Kirby, Waddle Dee, or even King Dedede, she didn't really do much. Or at least, she kept telling herself she didn't do anything.

"Kinda funny how we're the ones on the adventure huh? No Kirby or Dedede around seems kinda weird doesn't it?" Dee said, snapping her out of her nostalgic—and somewhat sad—trance.

"A little, but I don't mind it. I still get to be with one of my friends and that's all that matters." Both beamed at each other slightly, before quickly running into Whispy's Woods.

As the duo entered the thick woods, Dee started humming to himself, resulting in Adeleine looking over toward him. He noticed and decided to comment on his thoughts, "You know...when I was fighting Kirby, he looked." He paused for a moment, trying to figure out the best word to describe his feelings. "Different. Like there wasn't any life in his eyes." Adeleine began to ponder in response to her friend's observation.

"Well, as you said, he was possessed, so it only makes sense for him not to be himself." Adeleine sat down on an adjacent stump, deciding to rest her legs and carry the conversation. "He's still in there somewhere. Not that I think he's been possessed by Dark Matter...but." She shivers. Dee could obviously tell that the mere mention of Dark Matter made Adeleine uncomfortable, but just like her, he was hoping that Kirby didn't inhale a fragment of him, though it would make sense.

Whispy has been possessed many times himself, so it's very possible that either the Love-Love Stick or the Crystal Shard didn't purify him completely. How long the dark energy has been stewing in that apple is hard to tell. But it had to have been a lot considering that Kirby had become possessed in a matter of seconds when normally, he would've just been weakened.

Dee soon followed suit and sat on the same stump as Adeleine and noticed how eerily quiet the woods were. Typically the woods were always quiet, but one of them—typically Adeleine since she frequented the area often—would encounter Rick or Coo either eating the plentiful fruits on the trees or taking a nap. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen either of them since the whole Jambastion incident," she said aloud to herself. Dee shot her a peculiar look. "The Animals. Or Ribbon for that matter. I haven't seen her since then."

"Oh, well, I remember Ribbon staying with Kirby. I actually saw her about a week ago. They were both spending time together." Dee chuckled to himself bashfully, "I meant to ask Kirby if he could help me with an errand for King Dedede, but Ribbon got mad at me and said that I'm ruining her 'Kirby Time'. Whatever that might be." Both of them sighed at the hopeless romantic fairy. She was always so side-tracked by Kirby, even if he didn't pay her any attention.

"Are you hungry?" Dee asked swaying the conversation, "I brought a few tomatoes from the Bronto's garden," he politely asked, taking off his bandana and scrounging around for any type of snacks.

"Now that you mention it, I am pretty hungry. Whatcha got? Besides the tomatoes, I mean."

He dug into his seemingly endless bandana, "Uhhh, let's see, some bread, a melon, some strawberri-"

"I'll take the strawberries then." She snatched it from his hand and brought out her easel and canvas. Using the strawberry as a reference, she drew a basketful of strawberries which plopped onto the ground, she immediately started scarfing down the strawberries, like a Scarfy to ham.

"I didn't realize you were that hungry," he said plainly, looking at her with a dumbfounded expression. The poor artist started to blush and turned away from him to quietly eat the rest of her food. After the somewhat shy interaction, the bandana-clad warrior and the beret-hatted artist were off to venture into the heart of Whispy's Woods.

As they kept walking something finally went off in Dee's mind. They were sitting on a tree stump. No one in Dreamland would even think of cutting down a tree, especially if it's in Whispy's Woods. The stump was also completely smooth. Not even the most skilled Lumber Dee could manage to cut a tree with that much prowess. Something had to have sliced the tree perfectly. The question is, who or what could've done it? The King hasn't made an order to gather more wood since '03—mostly due to the King causing major deforestation of the woods—and Dynablade hasn't flown near Green Greens in ages. "Hey! Look over there!"

Adeleine started pointing at a large yellow object on the ground. Dee inspected it and immediately realized it was a Cutter boomerang, though he started thinking back to the stump. If I'm right, then...Bandana Dee picked up the large object—much to Adeleine's bemusement—and reeled back. After a second of prepping and a breathless grunt, he managed to hurl the massive object at one of the trees, causing it to slice completely, leaving a similar stump that they sat on not too long ago. As the boomerang came back, Dee was able to grab the object with both hands and fling it over himself, but this was detrimental.

As he swung the blade backward, Adeleine was in the way, causing her hand to get sliced by the blade. She made a small whimper and landed on the ground, but Bandana Dee didn't even realize, opting to marvel at the blade itself.

"It's a Cutter boomerang. But look at the size of that thing! Maybe Kibble Blade could've thrown something like that, but even this looks too big for him. It's so heavy, so there's no way anyone, probably not even Kirby (or himself for that matter) could wield that and have such amazing accuracy with it!" However, the Waddle Dee's amazement evaporated, as he looked over at Adeleine, who was teary-eyed and gripping her hand. "Oh no!"

He rushed to her aid on all fours and glanced at her hands. There was a pretty big gash. Dee began to panic, especially after realizing that it hit her left hand. Her most dominant hand.

If she couldn't draw properly then getting food or fast resources would become a problem. "Ugh! I'm sorry Adeleine! I should've known you couldn't dodge something like that." She grimaced at him slightly, taking a bit of offense to his backhanded comment, but her anger went away as quickly as it came, as Dee started using his bandana as a makeshift bandage for her hands.

"Your bandana? Don't worry, I'll be okay," she winced immediately as she got up, accidentally applying pressure to her injured hand. Her actions only made him more concerned.

"Stay here. I'll continue exploring the forest. I want you to try and heal, no painting while I'm gone." As Dee ran off and looked back at the artist, who gave a small smile in response, she looked at the navy "bandage" that was sloppily tied to her hand.

The woods were a lot denser than he remembered. After leaving his painting companion he was mostly stumbling over the large amount of shrubbery and sticks, strewn about the ground. However, what perplexed him as he ventured into the heart of the woods was the sheer amount of haphazardly cut stumps—which were more than likely from that massive Cutter Boomerang he had previously discovered. As he continued his trek he spotted a dark figure, looming in the distance. It looked like it was perched on one of the treetops. The Waddle Dee squinted his eyes, yet needed to get a closer look, using his Parasol as a spring, he bounced himself up to the treetop, only for there to be a massive Cutter flying in his face.

He was able to dodge the blade, it dragged itself into the ground. "What the?" As he floated using the Parasol, his descent was cut short—literally. The figure slashed his Parasol in two and Dee was sent to the ground face-first. Looking up, it was none other than the pink puff, who donned the 'Cutter' Copy Ability! How could he have access to such huge blades...Bandana Dee contemplated. The largest Cutter blades he could make—aptly named Hyper Cutters—were no bigger than King Dedede, but the blade Kirby was ominously holding in his hand towered over Dedede.

Two Dededes even.

Sparing no time, Kirby threw the massive blade at the defenseless Waddle Dee, he was able to slide out of the way, but the forest wasn't so lucky. Several trees were thrown from their stumps creating a powerful boom as they landed. As the boomerang came back, Kirby caught it skillfully, without hesitation. As he tried to wield another blade from his hat, Dee took wind of the dark energy surrounding the blade, making it grow to massive proportions.

So then...it is Dark Matter...

Now completely defenseless, Bandana Dee was running through the woods, trying not to become thin meat. It was oddly nostalgic, running from the "Pink Menace" as the King called him back then. Him having all sorts of weaponry at his disposal, however, Bandana Dee wasn't really planning on going without a fight. He took fighting classes, entered the Annual Megaton Punch competitions—even rivaling Kirby's strength at one point—and became the King and Kirby's right-hand man when it came to errands or adventures. Is it really going to end like this?

Kirby threw another cutter, which the Waddle Dee avoided narrowly.

Okay, think. One thing that the Darkness tried to hide was someone's flaws. If their flaws or weaknesses overpowered the darkness, it would revert them back to their normal self, at least for the time being. So what was one of Kirby's biggest flaws? As Dee took a harsh left to try and lose Kirby, he slipped onto a perky apple. "Oh duh!" He exclaimed, picking up the massive apple on the ground. He drew his arm back, swung it for maximum effect, and Wooosh the apple went!

It struck Kirby square in the face. His attack halted: he ate the apple. He gave a small smile, before dark energy enveloped him, causing him to shake his head and charge for the Dee, which started their game of Cat and Mouse again. However, Dee had an idea.

o.o.o.o

He found himself in the heart of Whispy's Woods, facing the grand tree himself. He managed to lose Kirby, due to him taking to the skies and climbing the treetops. So he had at least a few minutes, for him to enact his plan. Whispy saw the lowly Waddle Dee and frowned. "What's the meaning of this?! Why are you destroying my brethren?!" He bellowed, shaking his leaves at him angrily.

"Mr. Whispy, please! I'm sorry to bother you, but I need a really big favor!"

The tree had his iconic lost expression as he saw the Waddle Dee practically on his knees. If he had them. "And what would this favor be?"

"Sir, I need your apples. All of them. Kirby's trying t—"

Whispy gasped to himself and his eyes grew larger than saucers. "Oh no! Not him!" He obeyed the Waddle Dee and began to rapidly shake his leaves, causing all kinds of apples to plop onto the ground below him. The loud rustling alerted Kirby and he was able to track Dee because of it, but what he didn't expect was a large assortment of apples in a giant bundle on the ground.

Apples. Red apples. Sweet and tasty, satisfying and juicy, absolutely delicious apples! He practically chucked his Copy Hat on the ground and began to inhale the plentiful apples on the ground. As he did so, Kirby looked purer, and Dee could see the dark aura leave him. After inhaling what he'd consider a mid-morning snack Kirby waved innocently to the Waddle Dee and tree.

"Kirby, listen to me!" Kirby immediately tensed as he saw his friend rush to him. "You've been possessed by some dark energy! You've gotta find out how to stop it!" Kirby began to panic, somewhat unsure of how to grasp the situation, but his panic slowly stopped as the dark energy rushed back into him. His eyes becoming charcoal once again, he shook his head and flapped his tiny arms, and hid in the canopy of the trees.

If he were to help Kirby, he'd also need the help of the Crystal Shards or at least something that could purify anyone with a single touch. The wise tree looked wistfully at the heroic Waddle Dee and sighed to himself.

"It seems like he's been possessed with the same evil I once was," he calmly stated in a hushed voice. "Both you and Kirby have saved me from this evil countless times, so I'll let the deforestation pass on behalf of what's going on." Dee smiled slightly, but Whispy cleared his throat sharply, "Only this once; Kirby cannot cut down any more of my trees after this though!" With a curt nod, Bandana Dee fled into the forest, hoping that Adeleine wasn't too worried about his disappearance.

Chapter Text

He was gone for quite a while, though admittedly, there wasn't much Adeleine could do to help him. Her most dominant hand was the one that was struck with the Cutter blade. So it's not like she could really paint anything. If there wasn't the threat of Kirby potentially hurting Dreamlanders, she probably would've taken a nice nap under the canopy of trees.

"Kirby! Kirby...! Where did you run off to now...?" Her voice was high and familiar as ever, and her tiny, loud wings were a dead giveaway to who was calling the Pink Puff's name. To the right of Adeleine, there was a small rustle in the bushes before her little fairy friend popped out. Ribbon flashed Adeleine a grin and flew towards her with open arms. "Ado! I missed you!" She exclaimed, hugging the painter's beret. "Oh!" Her demeanor quickly changed. "Have you seen Kirbykins around anywhere? I've been looking for him the whole day, but I've just had no luck!" She pouted, now opting to sit on Adeleine's beret than continue flying.

"Kirbykins?" Adeleine chimed in sarcastically. "I saw him yesterday actually...but uh—" Ribbon cut her off defensively.

"I'm still trying to come up with a cuter name—Oh! Has he said anything about me? I wanted to make him breakfast the other day, but he just up and left! How rude!" The tiny strawberry-haired fair continued her long rant about Kirby until she looked down at Adeleine's hand and gasped somewhat dramatically. "Oh my! What happened here?!" She flew down to her hands and held them in her significantly smaller pair. After taking a closer look at her hands, Ribbon saw the blue bandana which was tainted slightly red. Her focus shifted immediately.

"So. Did something happen with you and Waddle Dee," she started to smirk, making Adeleine turn away bashfully.

"M-my hands got bruised and he just used his bandana as a bandage. That's all that happened!" She dismissed rather quickly, causing the fairy to raise a brow. After a small exchange, a whistling noise could be heard from the air, with a loud crash into something that sounded leafy. Several smaller thuds then accompanied the harder thud.

"Do you know what that was?" Ribbon questioned, cocking her head to the side.

"No clue..."

Not a second passed for the girls to even process what happened and out came Kirby from the bush, looking slightly disheveled. More than likely from flying and hitting too many branches. Within mere moments, Kirby dashed towards Adeleine and hopped in the air, until the little fairy intercepted and caught Kirby.

"Kirby!" She exclaimed, gently plopping him on the ground.

"No, wait!" She meant to tell Ribbon about Kirby's recent actions, but the impatient fairy interrupted her! She had to get her away from him before she got too hurt! And she had to act fast: Kirby was looming over her, as Ribbon was distracted by Adeleine's outburst. It almost looked like he was going to grab her. However, her reaction was too slow, as Kirby lifted her up and, put her on his head. "What?" She said aloud, seeing the two pink friends greeting each other.

"What? This is how we always greet each other. It wasn't like he was going to kill me or anything," she shrugged, now resting on the blob's head. Was Dee able to save Kirby from being possessed?

"Hey!" A voice cried from in front of them, Waddle Dee pointed at Kirby and tackled him to the ground, disregarding Ribbon completely.

"Kirby! Waddle Dee what are you doing?!" He ignored her and swiftly pinned Kirby to the ground, which only made his eyes go back to the eerie black they were prior. He began pulsating with Dark Energy and kicked the Waddle Dee off of him, resulting in him continuing to fly amongst the canopies, despite his face being filled with scratches and stray leaves.

Ribbon shuddered as she could practically sense the dark aura which then quickly left the forest. Both Dee and Adeleine huddled to her in a panic, picking her up from being thrown due to Kirby and Dee's scuffle. "W-Was..." she stammered. Almost immediately, the two friends adjacent to her nodded grimly, already knowing how she was going to react. She felt a twinge of sadness overtake her tiny body. Not Kirby...he's the last person I'd expect to get possessed like that...

"We need the Crystal Shards." Waddle Dee spoke, breaking Ribbon out of her sad shock, "The only way we can fully cure him is if he becomes purified by the Crystal's energy. And the Love-Love Stick shattered after the fight against Zero ages ago. So you're really our only hope Ribbon."

The frail fairy gave a faint smile, which was quickly replaced by her gasping. "The Crystal Shards are in Kirby's house," she began to pale. "We have to hope that Kirby doesn't find them in there. We'll have to catch him!"

"That's miles away!" Dee complained, "If Kirby already knows about the Crystal being there he could break it and cause another 'Search for the Crystal Shards' situation. C'mon!" Dee was about to speed off until he looked back at both girls looking downcast.

Bandana Dee can run fairly quickly, even matching Meta Knight in speeds, but both Adeleine and Ribbon can't run. Adeleine because of her being injured and Ribbon because of her size. Sure, Ribbon could carry Adeleine, but she's not that fast of a flier either. If he could find a way to get both of the girls with him quickly, then they'd have a better chance at making it. "Oi!" Dee frowned and looked up to where the shout came from.

"I saw everything that ended up happening," a familiar hamster spoke as he climbed out of a tree. "It was early morning. I encountered Kirby on my daily walk through the woods and all of a sudden he just threw this—" he gestures with his hands to little effect as they're so stubby— "THING at me and I scuttled up this tree. I think Kirby had his mind set on something else though because he could've easily got me."

"What took you so long? Why didn't you say anything sooner?!" Adeleine and Ribbon spoke up, pressuring the chubby hamster.

"I. Uh. That's a pretty good question, but right now, we gotta focus on takin' Kirby down, before something bad happens!"

"No, we're talking about this," Ribbon scolded. "How come you didn-" Dee covered her mouth—well really her whole face—and plopped her on the hamster's back, as well as Adeleine's.

"As much as I'm mad at Rick too, we've already wasted a lot of time talking. Let's go already!"

With the girls on Rick's back and Bandana Dee opting to just book it, they all raced out of the woods to try and beat Kirby to his house. As the group ran, they could spot Kirby overhead, still being pelted by all of the wood's branches. Angrily shaking them off of his face, he began to fly higher into the clouds. He was barely visible. Using the ace up his sleeve, he flew deeper into the clouds and yelled a loud, "Poyo!"

Suddenly, the clouds darkened, and it didn't look like it was going to be a simple drizzle either. Despite the rain pouring water like a pitcher, none of the friends showed any signs of slowing. However, a sudden burst of lightning struck the ground harshly. The meadows weren't burning, but everyone stopped for a moment to marvel at the peculiar flash of lightning. It almost looked like someone spawned from the strike. Someone with a mighty hammer.

"Great King?" Was the only thing that Bandana Dee mustered. The same sickly aura that highlighted Kirby had rushed through Dedede like a vortex. Said King paced towards them carefully, omitting more of the carbon-colored clouds with every following step. The King's distraction seemed to be helpful for Kirby as he was spotted flying overhead, now visible from the clouds.

"The shards!" Ribbon exclaimed, attempting to fly after him. Rick snatched her from the sky and sat her back on his head.

"You stupid? You can't fly with all this rain and lightning everywhere!" Ribbon huffed and smacked his head, although it didn't seem to hurt the hamster he sighed wistfully. "I'll see what I can do. Adeleine, Ribbon, stay here with Waddle Dee and deal with Dedede." The massive hamster threw the girls off of him and sped past Dedede who seemed to not care about his efforts.

Bandana Dee brokenly walked towards King Dedede. His eyes were soulless, he had a grim expression on his face and nothing other than the violent whooshes of clouds and the fast pitter-pater of Rick's footsteps in the wet grass could be heard. He looked up at him remorsefully, "Great King?" Silence. "Great King...?" Silence, then followed with a swift and hefty swing of his wooden mallet. Dee immediately was sent hurtling backward and tumbled into the girls, also indirectly hurting Adeleine.

"You have to get over it! That's not the real King!" Adeleine cried, trying desperately to not squeal in pain due to her landing uncomfortably on her hand. However, her warning fell upon deaf ears as Bandana Dee was more focused on trying to rescue the King than to defeat him; yet the same result continued, that being Dee getting punished for his fruitless attempts to make the King snap out of it.

"He's in shock..." Ribbon said, looking at Dee with a concerned look on her face.

"Waddle Dee, listen to me," Adeleine desperately whispered to him, hoping he'd finally come to his senses. "You need to fight." Energy rushed through him and he obeyed her command, he tried everything he could to do it the nice way, but now it was time to take matters into his own hands.

He rushed at the penguin at great speed and leaped at him, hoping to dodge another hammer swing. He was fortunate as he was able to disorient him with a kick to his stomach, causing the massive King to topple over, however, he wasn't out for the count. He immediately got to his feet and kicked Dee away from him, causing him to bounce away and land face-first onto the wet ground. The soulless Dedede trampled the poor Waddle Dee, who was actively trying to get from under him, but his attempts were in vain. Despite the constant grunts and squirming, he just couldn't get him off, Dedede was simply too heavy. And to add insult to injury, Dedede placed a single foot on the Waddle Dee's back and held his hammer to the sky before it quickly ignited and thrashed the Waddle Dee. The smack of the hammer was so loud it could be heard half across Dreamland—it was a perfect Hammer Flip. Bandana Deee was sent bolting to who knows where, and the only remains of him was his smoke trail, which was slowly dissipating from the rain.

With a smirk and a threatening growl, he faced the girls who both screamed in terror bracing for impact, knowing they wouldn't be able to recover from the attack. He held his star hammer up and was about to swing until a booming voice cried from the heavens.

"No. They'll get their punishment very soon." Inches away from nearly destroying the two girls, he stopped his hammer mid-swing and blinked lamely. Dark clouds consumed him and he took to the skies.

Both girls looked at each other and could only hope that Rick was able to stop Kirby in time.

After rushing past Dedede, Rick was able to make it to Kirby's house in record time, but unfortunately, Kirby had already made his way inside. Rick could certainly try and stall him, but stopping him was another issue. Rick wasn't nearly as strong as Kirby, especially if he didn't have any access to any Copy Abilities.

The hamster kicked the wooden door open to see Kirb ransacking through his tiny house: destroying furniture, turning his bed over, and looking through every nook and cranny, no matter how insignificant it seemed. The puffball jolted when he heard Rick noisily make his entrance, but Kirby's devilish grin wasn't reassuring for the animal.

Kirby inhaled his bed and spat it at Rick who was still in the doorway, he made a narrow dodge, but the doorway was now blocked. Both of them were trapped. Kirby violently started inhaling again, hoping to do the pesky rodent in. Desperately, Rick clung to the biggest thing that he could find, however, it turned out to be a rather grim mistake.

The item that Kirby inhaled was his ability wardrobe, the first thing coming out was a bright red parasol, which Rick grabbed. It wasn't much, but a Copy Ability was a Copy Ability. He was able to stand his ground with the Parasol, but it wasn't going to hold for very long. He searched frantically for an answer to his solution and beamed. If I get him to remember something happy, I might revert him back to normal! He remembered.

He hadn't done this in ages. In a panicked attempt, Rick ran to the very back of the room and placed the Parasol on his nose. He stood up on one foot and started to twist and twirl the thing. "Kirby! Do you remember this?! This is how we first met!" The violent inhaling stopped for a split second and a core memory rushed through Kirby.

It was a normal day for Kirby minding his own business until he accidentally bumped into this massive animal. In alarm, Kirby dropped the Parasol and was caught completely off guard by the exchange, in his own special way, he was trying to apologize profusely. "Hey, it's no problem! Oh hey, is that a Parasol? I haven't used one of these in a while!" Unexpectedly, he began to prep the Parasol up on his nose and began to spin it around, it was extremely entertaining and Kirby couldn't get enough of it, he began to laugh and clap at the hamster's party trick resulting in a hearty laugh from the hamster himself. "I'm Rick. I've seen you walking around these parts a lot and it looked like you were lost, would you like me to give you a ride somewhere?" Kirby nodded at the hamster's friendly gesture and hopped on top of him. His fur was soft and inviting and Kirby found the perfect spot to mount him. Kirby had poyo'd and gestured to get Rick to the Parasol trick again, he laughed and complied, but Kirby instead was on the Parasol, bouncing on top of it. Both had laughed greatly. "Man, you and I would make great friends, but um could ya tell me what your name was again? I didn't catch it."

"K-Kirby!" He said, trying his best to speak clearly.

"Kirby?" Rick asked, sighing with relief when he saw Kirby bouncing up and down on the Parasol. "Phew..." He grabbed the Parasol and stuck it under his arm while setting Kirby off his back in the process. After slowly coming back to his senses, Kirby was alarmed to see his house in complete disarray and started to angrily 'poyo-shout' at Rick.

"What?! No, I—Kirby, listen to me! It's not like—Woahhh Woah! No need for such harsh language now!" Kirby finished the rest of his argument, before nearly storming out of his house, attempting to move the bed. "No, wait! Kirby, you and Ribbon have been living together for a bit right?" Kirby subtly blushed and nodded. "Do you know where she left the Crystal Gun? We're in trouble and we need it!" Snapping out of his bashful trance, Kirby darted around frantically and witnessed his Ability Wardrobe and an array of what looked like nearly hundreds of hats strewn across the floor. He sighed—it had taken him weeks to sort everything in alphabetical order. He dug into the back of the closet and pulled out the Crystal Gun which shone brightly.

"Great! Now hand it over!" Kirby was going to, be he became slightly skeptical of the hamster and began asking several questions. "What do I need them for? Kirby, Dreamland's in trouble and I think Dark Matter is back!" Kirby slowly drew his hand back and asked another question. "Ya really think I'd lie to you?" Kirby gestured across his room, "You did that, not me! Look, how many questions are you going to ask me?!" Rick tried to steal the shards from Kirby, but he swiftly slide-kicked him out of the way.

The sudden burst of anger caused Kirby's eyes to void and now the worst was yet to come. He held the Crystal Shards in his hand and started to inhale all of the hats that were in the room, now donning a new ability that wasn't in his wardrobe. The ability had a shining crown and Kirby started to levitate in the air. Rick had never seen this ability before but didn't want to marvel at it. Whatever it was, he already knew that he had to escape. The bed was still blocking the door and the window was too small for him to escape. The only thing he could do then was brace for impact.

As Kirby rose to the ground and gave a small blink, he imploded within himself, leaving Rick and various items in Kirby's room to gravitate toward him. The mass had grown larger until there was nothing but a long foreboding silence.

BOOM!

BANG!

CRASH!

Until Kirby had truly unleashed the Crash Ability. A loud roaring explosion erupted and the meadows that were once drenched in wet rain were now burning harshly and spreading rapidly. Rick was nowhere to be seen and Kirby had obtained the Crystal Gun and dashed out of the rubble.

The darkness had escaped.

Rick and Bandana Dee were missing in action.

And the two girls silently looked on as Green Greens was rendered to nothing but a smoldering pile of dead grass.

Chapter Text

It had been a little bit since the massive Crash explosion, and both Adeleine and Ribbon were still sitting in shock, seeing all of the events unfold so tragically. The fires died down on their own, thankfully Green Greens was known for its breezes which extinguished the fires, though the grass was ashy and heavily charred. Abruptly, Adeleine shook the cobwebs out of her head and simply stormed off in a direction. We need to find Waddle Dee and Rick. Ribbon, who was just as abruptly shaken from her trance, saw the painter walk away in a hurry. She followed her reluctantly, flapping her little wings.

"Well..." She spoke looking over the landscape of what many of her friends call home. "What do we do? Kirby can't save us, King Dedede almost killed us, Waddle Dee and Rick are nowhere to be seen, and we're completely defenseless." Adeleine looked at her with a hurt expression, which quickly turned into an angry one.

"Well, I'm tired of being defenseless! We need to find everyone and rescue the Crystal Shards. But right now, all we can do is just ask around." She could feel herself becoming slightly bitter, "If we just look for Dee, we'll be able to find him, I'm sure." Ribbon shook her head with a faint smile on her lips.

"Adeleine," she almost laughed, "We can't do anything! I can't attack anyone without the Shard Gun, and your hand is cut, so you can't even paint. And I know you're not ambidextrous," she huffed, hoping she was able to give her friend some semblance of a wakeup call, but Adeleine only shook her head and continued walking. As much as she pretended not to, Adeleine knew she was right, Adelien never even held a weapon outside of her paintbrush. And even with that, she was only supporting everyone, drawing food, and giving reconnaissance, she wasn't cut out for the action like the others. But she couldn't chicken out, she had to save Dreamland from whatever might be possessing Kirby.

With another grunt, her small walk turned into a jog, as she held the shredded bandana in her hand.

.o.o.o.

She was still making her trek through the Woods, she almost swore he saw him launched into the trees. She was desperate to find him, he was defenseless and had to be seriously injured...if not worse. Just the thought made her choke. Dedede had launched him so far away that it would've been a miracle to actually find him in Green Greens. Ribbon was doing a poor job of keeping pace with Adeleine, she wasn't running too fast, Ribbon was just flying too slow. Her face told the whole story, one of annoyance, with a few chapters worth of dread. However, Ribbon would finally be able to catch up with Adeleine, as she needed to catch her breath. She decided to lean on an adjacent tree.

Ribbon was buzzing around her panting face, with an exasperated, almost depressed look on her face. "Like I told you: We can't do anything. It's not like—" Adeleine swatted at Ribbon, she purposefully missed, but the disturbance in the air made her tumble to the ground, landing on her shoe.

"I know what you said: stop saying it. We can't just give up like that, and there's no way that Waddle Dee or Rick could just be gone like that." Ribbon dusted herself off and eyed Adeleine angrily who just ignored it. "We just have to figure out something to do." She waited for Ribbon to regain her altitude, before continuing, "I didn't mean to do that, I was just frustrated."

"I forgive you—We still need to think of something though." She yawned loudly, "But right now. I'm just tired." She flew over to Adeleine's beret and snuggled against it. Adeleine sighed while taking out her massive canvas. She took her brush out of her pocket and started to draw simple lines with her left hand. It proved to be difficult. She barely managed to draw simple shapes as her hands kept shaking the canvas, making it uneasy.

It was like this for about an hour. Adeleine continued drawing until her arms got tired, while Ribbon tiredly looked at her futile attempts, getting so bored that she eventually fell asleep in the process. Night came quickly, and there wasn't much that the girls could do about shelter. It would take them too long to go back to the Bronto Burts' village to sleep at their inn and Whispy himself didn't really have any homes in his forest. She sighed softly, as she started painting, in a depressed manner. However, her thoughts were interrupted by her canvas glowing brightly and small little Bandana Waddle Dee staring up at her from the ground. She was losing focus. She put the tiny painting on her lap, and continued, hoping she could make something more productive like a Maxim Tomato.

Around twelve Waddle Dees—and one Rick—were staring up at the painter patiently. She couldn't even remember what she was trying to draw before. Many of the Waddle Dees had different tones, or differently colored bandanas, one with a Parasol, another with a Cutter Blade. And another little version of herself and Bandana Dee sitting down together—it was safe to say that was her favorite of the bunch.

As all of her Waddle Deelights, she started calling them, and the lone Rick huddled against her, she was slightly glad that she had gotten distracted throughout the night. It increased her morale slightly and it also made her hand more accustomed to the paintbrush. Okay, let's try something for real this time.

She decided to paint one of her most common works. A motion here, a blotch here, a smear there, and a touch of red. Out popped an apple. It was very mishappened however, it wasn't perfectly round and was slightly misshapen, though it's not like the Deelights cared, they praised their goddess for a massive feast.

As she looked at the ground, observing everyone, including the tiny Rick. She realized that she was slightly hungry herself. But a mere apple wouldn't do. She started dolloping paint onto her easel, Maybe a Maxim Tomato? A few more swift movements and she decided to put all of her focus into this drawing. Thanking her photographic memory, a nearly perfect Maxim Tomato was on the canvas. As she grabbed the superfood and admired her work about to take a bite, the paint exploded and seeped into her smock. "What?" She said loudly, forgetting about Ribbon who was still sleeping on her beret.

That's never happened before. She looked over at the Deelights again. I drew all of them hours ago...what caused the Maxim Tomato to burst, but not them? It wasn't until she caught wind of the hulking apple that she had painted a few minutes ago, still being carefully eaten by the ant-sized Waddle Dees. It's all crudely painted...

Testing her theory, she painted two apples. One that was near perfect and another that was slightly misshapen. Both plopped out the canvas. As she attempted to take a bite out of the perfect one, a small chunk of the apple burst into paint inside her mouth, causing her to sputter and spit it out, within another couple of seconds, the perfect apple exploded onto her smock again. However, the imperfect apple was still holding up.

She ate that one, but of course, that one wasn't very good to eat. It wasn't any better than the perfect apple, but at least now her suspicions were confirmed. So. If I draw something perfect it uses too much energy and can't sustain itself for too long. But if it's crude, it can still hold itself together!

Another brief hour passed. All of the Deelights eventually burst into tiny paint blots and Adeleine was once again alone. However, during that hour she decided to sew Bandana Dee's torn bandana. It took a while, but it was effectively back to how it was prior. Doing enough work, she figured that she might as well rest her hand so she decided to put her equipment away for the time being, but it wasn't long before morning reared its head and the painter realized she didn't get a wink of sleep, while Ribbon was sleeping like a Noddy. She sighed to herself and took off her beret, sitting it on the ground as Ribbon barely stirred in her sleep. As she now donned the navy bandana, she decided to make a brief trek through the woods to see if there was any sign of her friends.

She had no leads. Closest thing she could find to Dee was. Well, a Doo. A Parasol Waddle Doo to be specific. Although he had no clue where Bandana Dee was or any other Waddle Dees in the forest, he did seem kind enough to lend Adeleine a helping hand.

He decided to give her his Parasol and gave her a small rundown of all things she needs to know about it, yet all of it was so foreign to her. Parasol Twirl, Drill Stab, Circus Throw? She's never even heard of any of these moves—they almost sound like they're from some video game. Despite the Waddle Doo having a rather incapable student, he still lent her bright orange weapon anyway and walked off saying, "Trust me. You'll need this more than I will."

The sun was now shining brightly and Adeleine moved towards her beret and noticed the lazy fairy still sleeping as if Dreamland wasn't in danger. The painter was so frustrated she almost wanted to whap the fairy awake, but that probably would've been rude.

FWOOP! THUD! "Hey! What the heck was that for?!" It's safe to assume she changed her mind.

"It's time to wake up, we've got some exploring to do." The wet fairy shook herself off and the painter grabbed her beret and shook it a few times to get any stray droplets off of it.

"Fine." She groggily looked at the painter and realized her new headdress. "Tryna be a hero?" She teased, Adeleine turned red and grabbed the fairy by her little wings, and her canvas and officially left the outskirts of Whispy's Woods. She made the assumption that Dee was launched into the colder regions of Dream Land, so the best place to go would be to the west, away from the woods.

Or at least it seemed like a good assumption.

Thus was another day of fruitless walking. Passing the infamous Peach Pond—known for its deep pools of water—and Donut Dome, home to all Nruffs and other wildlife, both the fairy and the painter made their way to Dream Land's outskirts. Leaving the meadows and fields behind for large bays and rivers alike. If Popstar wasn't on the verge of being potentially swallowed whole, Adeleine would've taken the day to fish. Speaking of, the girls were dangerously attacked by a group of stray Blippers. Their damage was relentless, getting small amounts of water on Adeleine's apron and slightly startling Ribbon. Those fiends.

The Blippers harmless bobbed about but started gasping audibly the moment they hopped too far out of the water. Even though she was mercilessly assaulted, Adeleine safely plopped them back in the water and they swam away from the girls. Adeleine already had too many things on her conscious and seeing a fish suffocate would be a less-than-stellar sight for her psyche.

The sun traveled to the west and the moon quickly beamed its light on the girls. Time to set up camp.

The whole incident was of course, still fresh in their minds. Both Adeleine and Ribbon were disturbed seeing their friends so hurt and/or manipulated that bringing it up was a bad idea for both sides, but the calming waves and atmosphere made it easier to relax. From the looks and sounds of it, the girls entered Flooded Figs, a decently well-known spot for many to vacation. It was familiar territory for Adeleine as she would frequent Onion Ocean and Ripple Fields quite often, both being areas adjacent to the small country, but she'd have to keep a close eye on her strawberry-haired friend. Ribbon doesn't take kindly to water, so she'll have to figure out a way to keep her safe—as if she isn't doing that already—,but for now, the crackles and hisses of the fire put Ribbon to sleep, and Adeleine alone with her thoughts.

How does she fall asleep so quickly...Isn't she at least a little nervous about Kirby?

Sighing softly, Adeleine brought out her canvas and started to paint. Her little Deelights were popping out of the canvas, as she had already forgotten what to even paint. Her hand did start to heal, however, which proved to be a nice acknowledgment, alongside her strokes becoming increasingly faster with her left hand. She wasn't ambidextrous by any means, but it was a massive improvement compared to the other night. Getting tired of painting—she was surprised too—she decided to try and find any food. She left the napping fairy and ventured towards the bushier, green parts of the beach. Figs adorned the trees, hence the country's infamous name, and Adeleine grabbed a few handfuls of them. She wasn't very fond of figs, but it was better than eating paint. She stuffed them in her beret and started walking, but as she continued, words kept ringing in her head.

"You'll need this more than I will..."

It was more than likely meant to be an innocent statement, but she couldn't help but feel hurt by the Waddle Doo's words. Her sadness then turned to insecurities. And then to resentment. She looked at the wimpy parasol that was sashed on her back. She was nowhere near as versed as her friends when it came to fighting; other than her paintings, the only other thing she could do was swipe her brush around like a lunatic, but that could only hurt someone if they were blind and deaf. And if they didn't have a heartbeat either. Even Kirby could knock her back with a simple Air Puff.

I have to practice...

.o.o.o.

Within a few minutes, she had her Parasol unsheathed and a loud roar filled the air. A yard away stood a crudely painted blue dragon which whipped its tail on the ground, anticipating her attack. Without any hesitation and a shout, she lunged at the dragon which easily dodged her telegraphed attack, punishing her recklessness with a fierce swipe of its girthy tail. It slammed into her sending her backward and landing on her back, but she rolled off the pain and continued.

Just from that encounter alone, she could tell she wasn't going to like the outcome of her fight.

Getting cocky, the Ice Dragon then decided to exhale its chilling breath at the artist, prompting her to shield herself from the attack. Her Parasol was useful when it came to being a defense against attacks, like the Blippers and the Dragon's icy exhale, she noted. Said dragon was taking a small breath to recollect himself, giving the young painter ample time to attack and smack his face with the Parasol a couple of times. He tanked the beefy hits and simply shook them off, before brandishing his dagger-like teeth and cranking his mighty tail like a propeller. The limb had continued cranking until it amalgamated into a whirlwind of blue and white, jettisoning the painted creature forward like a bullet. Adeleine wasn't prepared for the attack, and she got rammed by the dragon, launching her into the air. Realizing her position she shifted the umbrella upwards and made her slow descent to the ground; it was rudely interrupted by the Ice Dragon rocketing up into the air and crushing the girl with his weight. They both plummeted to the ground and sand erupted from the attack. The Dragon hopped off of the squished Adeleine who started sputtering and spitting the grit from her mouth.

She brushed the sand off her smock and decided that she wasn't stopping until she dropped to the ground.

The Ice Dragon gave her another moment to give her an opening, but this one was significantly shorter than the last period, however, Adeleine was quick to her feet, leaping over the Dragon's sweeping attack, on the ground and blocking her face with the sand barreling towards her. The blue beast wasn't able to control his spin and landed back-first onto the gritty sand, causing Adeleine to take further advantage of her opening. Ample time for a few more fwips of the Parasol. She had no way of telling how close she was to defeating the painting but seeing her work of art panting, told her that she had to have been close.

One more hit!

She backed up a few feet and sprinted straight for the Dragon to thrust into him with a Parasol Drill. She was able to land the blow on the dragon. Everything stopped and the Dragon halted. She sheathed her Parasol and cried in excitement. She won...!

A small humming could be heard erupting from the Dragon, it violently pulsating and puffing its chest out. With a loud roar, a beam of bright light dug into the sand and sliced through the sand at an alarmingly fast rate. Adeleine hadn't seen this attack from her Dragon before—She was so stunned that she halfway forgot to run away from the massive laser that pierced the ground. SHIIINK! She was trapped in an Ice Block she couldn't even blink. The Ice Dragon simply walked up to her and kicked her with his tail, sending her sliding miles backward, before shattering into a tree. She shivered violently, forgetting how cold one had to be to be completely enveloped in ice like that. As she picked herself up, barely having any type of energy in her, a—thump...thump...thumpthumpthumpthump pelleted her head. A whole bushel of figs fell onto her head and she fell into the sand unceremoniously.

Looks like the Ice Dragon won that one.
Sorry, Adeleine, you'll get em' next time!

But instead of basking in his victory, he ran towards his master and attempted to pick her up, but she simply fell back into the sand again. "It's okay. I need resistance." The Dragon could only grunt in what she assumed was a sarcastic tone and dissipated in front of her, leaving a mess of blue globby paint in the sand.

She sighed to herself and now regretted her decision getting a lump of sand in her mouth. She finally sat up and rubbed her body, hoping to warm it up before getting back on her feet and setting for the campfire she had started. She had frostbite on her hands and the Parasol's rod was so cold that she could barely hold it without dropping it to the ground and yipping in surprise, but she had to endure it. Just for the moment. But it was at that moment that the simple weapon drifted gently through the air and landed on the sand before she got another chilling thought.

Her spar with her Ice Dragon companion was a rude awakening to how weak she was. There was no way she could help Dee or Kirby in the condition she was in. The girl would often see Kirby, Bandana Dee, or even King Dedede get into actual fights with an Ice Dragon and they'd defeat it in a matter of seconds, but she could barely manage to topple her own drawing, which was nowhere near as strong as the real deal. She walked over to the campfire and tossed the Parasol inside it for a second, before taking it out—and nearly burning her hands in the process. She continued to brood through the night, warming her hands and wondering about her Waddle Dee friend and his safety.

Chapter Text

Darkness. Silence...Cold.

Really cold.

Kinda wet too.

He jolted awake as if a Sparky zapped him. He searched around frantically, feeling his head. No bandana.

Wherever he was, it was cold as hell! Well...you know what I mean.

As he fully opened his eyes rubbing them tiredly, and facepalming at the author's oxymoron, his eyes searched the tiny home, which appeared to be an igloo. Packed ice was surrounding the waddle dee, as he attempted to get up, he could feel himself being binded by the warm sheets he was swaddled in. After a few minutes of unraveling, he was free. Just as he was exploring the rest of the igloo, the door behind him opened quickly, causing him to jump back several feet. He instinctively reached for his spear—or at least where it would be. But he immediately settled down when he saw another waddle dee close the door behind her.

"You're awake, huh?" A brilliant observation, she made. "Sit on the bed, you probably shouldn't move for a while." He was going to oblige, before halting skeptically.

"Where is this in Dream Land?" The other Waddle Dee looked at him as if he'd grown a pair of wings. Her bewildered expression didn't help with Bandana Dee's nerves.

"Dream Land? Hun, we're in Turnip Tundras...If you wanna make it to Dream Land it would take you about..." She looks down at the floor as if it whispered the information to her. "Eight—maybe nine?—Warpstars." Bandana Dee immediately jolted out of the bed but was gently shoved back in bed by the other. "Woah, take it easy now. You aren't in good condition, and it won't help either of us if you're passed out again."

"What happened to me?" He said rubbing his sore face with his hands.

She hummed, "Well when I first saw you, I was getting some firewood. I saw you near my igloo with a nasty bump on ya noggin. I thought a pack of Scarfies mauled you, so I thought I'd nurse you back to health with Maxim Soup and Pep Brews." She stretched before continuing, "And here we are now."

"Ah, thank you...! Uh.."

"Deelila. It's Deelila." Bandana shook her hand generously. "And who might you be then?"

"I'm Bandan-" It wouldn't make much sense for him to call himself Bandana Dee considering the fact that his iconic headpiece was now in Adeleine's hands. This thought only troubled him more, realizing how urgently he had to get back to Dreamland. "I'm Bandee."

"Alright, nice to finally meet ya." She scuttled to the door and opened it briefly before looking back, "I'm gonna leave for a while. I got a couple of errands to run, so make yourself comfy, mkay?"

"Leave?" Dee sputtered awkwardly as he shifted his head to the window, "This late?"

"Yes sir! Just about everyone is asleep, so I like to do my chores so no one can bother me." With a cute wink, Deelila donned her mitts and a bright purple scarf and fled the scene, leaving Dee alone with the TV. Not like there was anything interesting on there anyway.

Some kind of anime adaptation of a video game. "Right Back at Ya? Why is it even called that?" He protested to himself, browsing the rest of the channels on the tiny CRT that centered the room.

As he began mindlessly surfing, his mind was better put attention to his methods of travel. Or rather, lack thereof. Kirby was the most versed when it came to riding and operating Warpstars. The last time he used one on his own, he crashed into Dedede's castle. He wasn't very pleased, to say the least.

And the same for the Wheelie.

...Or his Spear Copter. Maybe King Dedede's hammer flip was a little more personal than he thought.

Everywhere he went, he just ran, but it's not like he could get anywhere on foot like that. Turnip Tundras wasn't too far from White Wafers, he remembered. The last time he visited was when Goriath had asked him for a favor a few months back and that trek took weeks! By the time he finally got to Dream Land, Popstar would've been inhaled by then.

With nothing else to do but sigh, his options were looking slim, not to mention he was also weaponless. No Spear, no Parasol, hell...not even a Beam Wand. Any attempts he made trying to venture out were halted, as he sat in bed idly, not even paying attention to the TV's annoying advertisements.

In only a matter of time, he was feeling pretty tired. Then after a few more blinks of protest, he was out like a light and slept like a log.

.o.o.o.

Morning came a lot faster than he would've expected, but he was practically startled awake with small yelps coming from outside. Rubbing his tired eyes and peeping his head out of the already open door, he saw Deelila doing some splinting. She seemed to be having such a hard time with it though, barely being able to slice the logs efficiently. After sensing his presence she gave him a little wave, heaving the axe over her shoulder. "Oh hi sweetie, I hope you slept well. Don't mind me though, I'm just cuttin' up some firewood."

"It looks like you're having trouble."

"Yeah," she wiped her brow and sighed, "I've been at it since the crack of dawn. If you can slice these logs, then be my guest!" She quite literally tossed the sharp weapon on the ground, it making the soft crunching sounds from pillowing snow. But he figured that he could probably do it a bit better than she could. Acting on random impulse, he decided to throw the axe like a Cutter blade, causing the sharp weapon to successfully slice through the wood and come back to him as if nothing happened.

"Ooh wow!" She marveled at his expertise. "I take it, you're one of those fancy Servent Dees that the King has, right? Is that why you want to go back to Dream Land so badly?"

"You could think of it as such—I just don't have much time." The female Waddle Dee hummed to herself before responding.

"Y'know I remember having to commute to Flooded Figs once to sell some of my hardwood. I think I know a fast route that'll take us there by sundown if we go now, especially if I use the Gaw Gaw sled."

"That's not too far from Dream Land! It's only a couple miles away!" He grabbed Deelila's stubby hands and attempted to dash to...somewhere before she snatched her hand back.

"You're crazy if you think we're doing this without enough firewood."

"B-But..."

"I know, I know. We can go first thing in the morning if you can help me load the sled with wood and feed the dogs. After that, then we'll be off, I promise!"

He had a begrudging look on his face, but he eventually relented and shook the lady's hand. "Deal."

The next day came so slowly to Dee, but he woke up first thing in the morning and was surprised to see Deelila already pushing the sled to set off to Flood Figs. The Gaw Gaws were antsy, almost burrowing through the snow the second she boarded the sled, but she told them to heel for their second passenger. "This might be a bit bumpy."

"Bumpy or not, let's get out of here!" Waddle Dee hopped onto the sled and with a crack of her harnesses and a loud "Mush!" the snow plowed behind them and they ventured for Flooded Figs, eventually leaving the small town. The sun was still rising as they left, and with Deelila's promise, they'd be there by sundown. He was going to see his friends—hopefully. Although his bones still felt like jelly from the lethal Hammer Flip, he was willing to put that pain aside to make sure Ribbon, Adeleine, and Rick were okay. The flurry of whites and blues helped ease his mind, but he was still anxious about Kirby's attacks.

It was lucky that he was able to stop Kirby twice before any monumental damage was done, but the artist and painter aren't known for their strength. If Kirby were to attack another town or city, the most they could do is clean up the aftermath. Or even worse...Kirby could ambush them. The Waddle Dee simply shuddered the thought away, upset that his mind resorted to the worst-case scenario. And her hand...she can't even paint...he could already feel the onslaught of thoughts coming to berate him, but they were halted, confusedly, as Deelila sat a navy scarf in his lap.

"You were shivering, so I thought you were cold." She spoke in a slightly monotone voice, trying to keep her focus and eyes on the path.

He silently tied the warm woolen scarf around his body.

It was about three or four hours later that the chillingly cold winds started to blow onto the Waddle Dees and Gaw Gaws. Deelila was caught completely off guard and stopped for a slight second, checking her map. The snow piled up heavily and the Gaw Gaws were beginning to shiver. Looking worriedly at her pets and partners, she took out a couple of logs of firewood and a match and lit it. She set up camp for the Gaw Gaws to rest as she began pacing back and forth in the harsh winds.

"That's odd..." she spoke distantly, pulling out her map. "This area never gets blizzards like this...I travel through here all the time and it's never been this severe before..." Dee could hear the sheer confusion in her voice. Getting off of the sled and sitting next to the other Waddle Dee as she eyed her map cautiously, he started to get slightly worried from how she was reacting. "I'm sorry sugar...depending on how this storm goes, we might not make it till sundown like I promised." The Waddle Dee's face was downcast, but he brightened up to reassure her.

"Don't worry, it's okay. I'd rather us be safe." Deelila nodded, but after a moment of pondering turned to her companion.

"Now that I think about it: You never actually told me what happened." Dee's eyes shifted to her and then back to his hands, slowly becoming pale from the cold weather.

"It's a long story."

"We've got time I'm sure," she pointed at the Gaw Gaws huddled by the fire, either asleep or trying to stay warm.

"Alright, so this is what happened—" He began as he retold the current events of his journey. Although she was listening attentively, Deelila couldn't help but feel slightly out of Dee's retelling, she chocked it down to just not understanding. As a country Waddle Dee, she never really ventured out into Dream Land like all of the other Waddle Dees wanted to do. She lived a simple life, gathering wood and making fire. Harvest turnips and sell them for profit. Relax in her igloo, then go to sleep. The troublesome events of saving a whole town from a rampant firey, attack and getting flung miles and miles away from your home country was a lot to take in for the homely Waddle Dee.

The winds were starting to get harsher, howling and screaming as every dreadful second passed. Snow and rocks started to circle around them and the once calm blizzard was starting to become slightly destructive. All of the Gaw Gaws woke up and burrowed underground to stay safe and the Waddle Dees eventually followed, hopping into the small hidey-hole they provided. However after a moment of waiting, calm returned to the land and the winds slowly subsided, but the sound of crunching footsteps could be heard. Dee peered over the burrow cautiously and saw a familiar face.

Or at least a familiar mask.

He burst out of the snow and ran towards him urgently. "Sir Meta Knight! Boy, am I glad to see you! So much happened and I—" Meta Knight put his hand on his head, causing him to stop.

"Waddle Dee." He said, calmly, staring into his eyes. "Where is Kirby?" His question sounded more like a threat.

"I don't know...Are you here to help us?"

"Yes, but I'm afraid I ca—" he hunched over onto the snow, groaning loudly in pain. The frightened Waddle Dee immediately rushed to his aid, only resulting in the winged warrior smacking him back with his hand. "Go—leave now!" Opening his wings, he attempted to take flight and flee the area, but he fell midair and landed with a heavy thud in the snow. Reimagering from the snow, he pointed the Galaxia at the Waddle Dee, his eyes the once ominously calming yellow, a now demonic black.

Dee was unable to react to Meta Knight's speed as he lunged towards him with a single, girthy flap of his wings. He brought a scarf to a sword fight, he was left utterly defenseless. The tackle caused Dee to crash into the snow, pillowing it behind him, the dangerous Knight eyeing him devilishly. Within a split second, Meta almost jabbed the blade through the Waddle Dee, but he saw him hesitate. A small glimmer of yellow in those eyes, that flipped straight back to dark.

He had a chance.

Using this grace period as a chance to think, he ran as fast as his feet could take him, but Meta Knight proved to be faster, especially when he used his wings. This time, he bashed him with his wings, causing the Waddle Dee to launch into the air, and crash against the massive sled. The knight didn't expect to launch him as far, so he used his ever-iconic Mach Tornado to violently destroy the terrain, creating the same blizzard he and Deelila rode into. It was a blinding attack, and Dee couldn't even see where he was coming from, but in a matter of nanoseconds, the warrior appeared and kicked Waddle Dee straight into the air. The Mach Tornado also caused the sled to careen into the air and fall back down unceremoniously. All of the logs fell onto Waddle Dee, the axe landing adjacent,

As he tiredly pushed the logs off of him, he decided to do everything he could to save himself. He tossed a log at Meta Knight and he shucked it effortlessly. There was another log. Sliced clean. One more...that one blatantly missed. Tired of his games, he lunged, ready to defeat this pesky Waddle Dee once and for all. The wind propelled him forward, about to deliver a life-ending blow that not even a Maxim Tomato could save him. As a last resort, he grabbed the axe and readied himself.

He had one shot.

He held the weapon right as Meta Knight was going to charge and ran straight at him. Both struck. Meta Knight's strike was parried by Waddle Dee's downward slice, the metal from both weapons ringing loudly. Both of them stood there. Panting. Waddle Dee looked back at him and saw the aura disappear from him. Meta Knight finally turned around and he was able to see his golden eyes.

As well as his face.

The mask rested on the ground, covered in dark energy. His weakness...a dark matter blob formed the mask and Meta Knight slashed it into thin air. "Thank you." He simply said, before vanishing with his dimensional cape.

Waddle Dee then meekly fell onto the snow, Deelila rushing to his aid, after watching all of the events unfold.

"Hold on! I'm going to get help!" He heard faintly, after stuffing him in the burrow with two other Gaws for protection. She assembled the sled and raced off to Turnip Tundra for any medical support, but Waddle Dee was so tired that everything was just fuzz.

Adeleine...Ribbon...Rick
I'm sorry...

Sometime later, there were footsteps outside. And the intruder had entered the nest. The Gaw Gaws growled ferociously and did everything they could to defend Dee, but this figure dealt with them time and time again. They were both jumped over and kicked straight into the snowy wall. Although they tried to burrow their way out, they were both violently inhaled and spat back into the snow, both dazed and rendered useless. Kirby loomed over Bandana Dee and gave his blank stare, going to inhale him too, before the voice rang in his ears.

"No..give him the energy too...make him suffer."

After putting his hands on his scarf, turning it into negative energy, the Waddle Dee began to morph and change sizes, before growing at an exponential rate. He tiredly woke up and saw the burrowed nest completely ravaged.

"H-huh.." He looked at his hands. He was able to see, his vision was no longer blurry. "K-Kirby?!" He saw the pink demon flying out of the burrow. "Hey! Get bac—" He froze, getting a sharp pain in his head.

"Hello there, Waddle Dee." The voice spoke ominously, "I have a set of instructions for you to follow. Willingly, or not."

Chapter Text

The painter and fairy were somewhat aimless with their search, but as long as they headed where Bandana Dee's smoke trails were they'd have a clue where he is. But that's the thing—the original smoke trail was days ago, and it's long disappeared since then, so really they were just wandering in a direction and asking around hoping they'd find him somewhere, whether it be up in a tree or laying face first in the grass.

Ribbon was also starting to dread this adventure, although it didn't bother the young girl at first, the small fairy's babbling about the world ending and how useless they were slowly started to wane on her morale. Slowly, but it still happened nonetheless. It was late afternoon as they continued their long journey, and Adeleine was slowly having a crisis about her age. Man... I haven't done a globetrot like this since Ribbon lost the shards ages ago..she looked down at her hands. I'm getting old...But her crisis was broken when she saw the grandiose mountains in the distance.

"Hey look at that!" She pointed catching Ribbon's attention. "Those are the Apfple Alps, I remember King Dedede telling me about them a few weeks ago."

"Hm? What'd he say about them?" She cocked her head, wondering what type of important information Dedede would have, let alone being able to even give important information. "The most I know about them is that it's the home of many Rockies and Galbos."

"Besides that, he told me that, that mountain over there," she pointed towards a jagged mountain, its peak almost invisible as it's shrouded by thick clouds, "It's the legendary Star Cloud Mountain—he told me that once night falls, and the moon hits the mountain's peak, you'll be able to see all of Popstar from here."

"You really think we could find Bandana Dee that way?"

"I mean it's wo—"

"No Adeleine, think about this for a second," she shushed her with her delicate hands, "How will we be able to seek him out of the other three million Waddle Dees?" Adeleine looked sheepish while Ribbon looked at her with a defeated look. "We might be better off trying to find Kirby instead." Adeleine looked at her irritatedly before slowly nodding.

"Sure." She simply said, just deciding to carry on, "It'll take us all day to head over there, so if we're fast enough we'll be able to rest up there for the night and look."

After gathering her bearings and preparing herself, she began the walk into Apple Alps, leaving the watery, and humid biome behind her. Apple Alps was an area she rarely visited. Sand Canyon was nearby and sometimes she'd only visit just to say hi to Pon and Con the mischievous Tanuki and Kitsune, but besides that, nothing else really struck her.

"Adeleine, watch out!" Ribbon screamed, snapping the artist out of her tranced walking. But it was too late, as Adeleine collided with a bright pink Scarfy, who looked rather displeased. "Hey! You were in our way!" The brash fairy flew into the Scarfy's face who was only looking angrier by the second. Adeleine captured her fairy friend and stuck her under her beret.

"Hahah, sorry ma'am we don't mean to intrude or anything. I should've paid more attention to where I was walking."

"You should've! That really hurt too!" She cried defensively, rubbing her face gingerly with her ear, "Put your little friend on a leash also! She needs to know who she's dealing with!"

"Oh really?!" Ribbon burst from Adeleine's hat and poked the angry Scarfy. "I'll have you know, that we're on an important mission an—" Ribbon looked up at the Scarfy who was fed up with her shenanigans.

"No more missus nice gal!" She grew in size and brandished her fangs, her eyes morphing into one. "I'll show you an important mission!" She growls and screams furiously causing both girls to scream in fear, however, she had her eyes set on the girl with strawberry-colored hair. She goes for a bone-crushing chomp and Ribbon narrowly avoids her, but the Scarfy is able to catch up with her quickly.

"Ribbon, stop!" Adeleine shouts, trying to get the girl to fly back to her. "If you stop flying away from me, I could help you!" But Adeleine's shouts fell upon deaf ears as the rotund creature and tiny fairy had their duel—chase is probably a better word—in the air. But Ribbon finally made her way back to Adeleine and cowered onto her face in fear. "Hey!" She was taken aback, swinging her arms wildly in the air before falling backward. The angry Scarfy then slowly approached the girls, before halting to a stop and growing larger in size and ultimately exploding the both of them, covering them in black soot. The two started violently hacking, before wiping their faces and seeing the pink Scarfy turn around.

"Hmph!" She waltzed out of the area, reverting back to her regular self. Adeleine and Ribbon coughed.

"Th-that's why I stuffed you in my beret the f-first time."

The Scarfy kerfuffle took a lot of both girls, but they continued their journey despite the small hiccup. Ribbon was visibly upset, still wiping off any of the black dust that covered her wings and hair. Adeleine however, wasn't as upset as her. "I've had a lot of run-ins with Scarfies thanks to Kirby," she said nonchalantly, as she stopped walking and looked up at the mountain. "If you get them mad, they explode, but I guess I can't be too upset with you, you rarely encountered them with Kirby." She shielded the bright sun from her eyes and glanced around, "So how do you want to do this?"

"Do what?" Adeleine gestured with her arms, expanding them outward.

"Well, climb this mountain. Are we flying, are you flying, or am I climbing?" The fairy sweatdropped.

"You're too heavy for me to carry you all the way up there!"

"Climbing it is then."

The painter cracked her knuckles and rolled her shoulder back. With a running start, she latched onto the mountain wall and began scaling the massive mountain. Ribbon was perched on her beret like she usually was and started fidgeting with her hat, hoping to get more comfortable. Wordlessly, Adeleine stopped her climbing and repositioned the beret on her head, and continued, the fairy giving her a very meek, 'thank you'.

.o.o.o.

Adeleine was making good progress, she started to see the clouds and several birds and Pterans scouting the skies, but she also paid attention to the aforementioned Rockies making their descent, jumping off the mountain peak. It was almost like a game, avoiding them, but no one would be laughing if the mocha-colored rocks crushed Ribbon and bashed Adeleine on the head. But one thing that started to bother Adeleine was Ribbon. She wasn't saying much the whole climb and Adeleine knew she wasn't asleep, but she could feel a bizarre tension in the air—she's actually been trying to say something for the past few minutes, but nothing would ever come to her. Or at least something that didn't sound weird.

"Hey, Ado?" Looks like Ribbon pried.

"What is it? Are you okay?"

"I'm not dead weight am I?" Adeleine almost gasped at the statement.

"Of course not! Where did you even get that idea from?!" The strawberry-haired fairy rubbed the back of her head.

"Well...I don't know. The Scarfy thing, getting the Crystal Shards lost, just not being able to help you." Adeleine opened her mouth to rebut, but Ribbon cut her off quickly, "I used to be part of the National Guard for the Queen back on Ripple Star, I was considered powerful back then...Popstar is so dangerous."

"I felt that way too whe—"

"Half the things that would come to Ripple Star, me and the other guards could handle with ease. But something as simple as a Scarfy to you, Kirby—really anyone here—is something you deal with daily. If we had a Scarfy attack like that on Ripple Star, so many of us would've been hurt."

"Ribbon..."

"I'm sorry," she started to tear up, but she quickly wiped her face. After a moment she gave a sad chuckle, "I hope Kirby's doing okay. I hope he's eating."

"Trust me, he's eating."

"Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if I never met him." Adeleine was taken aback by her statement and hesitated to grab the mountainside, "Would I just be a boring, old fairy being the guard of the Queen? Or would some other threat take over Ripple Star?" She sighed depressively.

"Well lucky for you that Kirby happened to be there for you, huh?" She smiles at the fond memory.

"It was luck that I landed on Popstar in the first place. Us crashing into each other and him promising me he'd make things right..." She started smiling more, "Him always protecting me the first chance he got, making sure I was okay, giving me those high fives, that cute dopey smile he always gets when I compliment him," her face turned the same color as her hair. "Gosh, I hope Kirby's okay!" She felt an energy surge through her. She jumped off Adeleine's beret and hovered adjacent to her, before hoisting her up by her smock. "We're going up! I'm going to help!" The determined fairy changed her grip and slung Adeleine around before rocketing up toward the bubbly star clouds. The clouds were thick and poofy, and when Ribbon phased through the cloud with a puff, she gently sat Adeleine down, falling onto the cloud herself, it felt like a soft pillow. Ribbon instantly got dizzy, the altitude disoriented her greatly, while Adeleine was doing perfectly fine. She picked up her friend and gave her a soft hug, I knew you could do it.

Nighttime couldn't come any slower for the painter and fairy. The high altitudes were internally messing with Ribbon, while Adeleine couldn't even idle paint, because of it being so humid. Anything she'd paint on her canvas would smear and turn into a wet, goopy, streak of paint. Up on the mountain did prove to be somewhat nostalgic for Ribbon at least. She could've sworn she'd seen these exact clouds during her adventure with Kirby ages ago.

Evening was creeping up and neither of the girls could wait. Adeleine especially hoped she was able to prove Ribbon wrong with her assumption. However the more she thought about her friend, the hungrier she ultimately got. Her stomach was growling as loud as the Scarfy she and Ribbon encountered earlier in the day.

"You're hungry too?"

"A little bit." Adeleine was trying to paint food from her canvas, but it just didn't taste like food. She had been hungry the whole day and hadn't found anything to munch on, it was taking a toll on her considering the fact she had scaled a massive mountain effectively by herself. "M-More than a little bit..."

"Yeah, I think th—" The fairy quickly cut herself off with a dramatic gasp, Adeleine whipped her head to the fairy in panic and only saw her pointing at the Bubbly Clouds, "Look! Look at that!" The soft clouds began to swirl rapidly, Adeleine and Ribbon were still situated on some and clung on to dear life as the clouds started to spin as if they were in a washing machine. As the clouds rotated around the peak of the mountain they eventually eased their movement, becoming slightly transparent and hardened. Adeleine curiously knocked on what was once a cloud and heard hollow dongs ring out. Is this...glass...? She looked down and could see her faint plump face staring right back at her, but she could also see the bottom of the Alps.

Her eyes widened.

"So King Dedede was right?" Ribbon said in utter shock, "We can look for Kirby!"

"Here's a better idea." Adeleine said picking the fairy up, "I can look for Kirby. You can grab us some food." She pointed towards a tree in the far distance, it was an apple tree, and the apples were plump and red, it wasn't the most amazing meal, but it would have to do for now.

"Right." Ribbon slightly pouted before scaling down the mountain slightly and taking off. She did have her second wind hours ago when she lifted Adeleine up, but that was mostly the adrenaline talking. Ribbon usually hates flying at such high altitudes, it's always disorienting for her, so her having to fly such a distance and uncomfortably was troubling for her.

But not as troubling as a Pteran crashing into the delicate little fairy, sending her completely off course. The violet creature yelped in surprise and continued its gliding descent while Ribbon flipped backward, trying to control her flying, but instead having to make a crash landing on a plateau. "Phew...that was close." She put her hand on her head and began panting like a dog, but sprung up in the air immediately as she heard the shout of an unfamiliar creature. "Huh?!"

Ribbon turned quickly and faced a Galbos, on her adventure with Kirby she'd only encountered red ones before, but a blue one...what would that do? But she knew well enough that if you startled it from its slumber, there would be consequences. Ribbon figured that it was her time to leave and she took to the skies quickly, but she was too late. The Galbos hurled water at the fairy and the heavy splash dowsed the girl. She tried to flap her wings, but the water trapped on them made them heavier to flap. With another hail mary, she tried to spin in the air to expel the water from her, but it would prove to be futile as she could see the ground rapidly approaching.

She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth.

He was walking, but he didn't know why he was walking. Or where he was even going for that matter. This...voice. He'd heard it somewhere before, but he couldn't piece together who or what it belonged to.

"Yes." The voice boomed, giving the young warrior a headache. "I want you to destroy the painter and the fairy. You've already done great work with the Waddle Dee, once you've accomplished that, come to me. Then I'll finally take over Popstar!"

He sighed sadly, and continued walking, before he felt something crash into him from above, knocking him, face first, onto the ground. He looked behind him and saw her. His friend.

His exterior didn't show it, but internally, he was shocked. But sighed happily when she started coming too. After a small groan and the flutter of her eyes, she finally spoke. "K-Kirby?" This adventure was tiring, but even with how tired she was, she could never forget those eyes staring right at her. "Kirby!" Ribbon shouted hugging the puffball softly.

A hug that slowly got rid of the darkness from his body. He pressed a hand to his face tiredly and fell back over. "Huh?" He said softly, as his vision was slowly starting to become normal.

"You saved me!" She planted a small kiss on his cheek and Kirby reddened like a ripe tomato. He could feel all of the dark energy leave his body in an instant. Ribbon could see what looked like a Dark Matter sphere hovering over Kirby, she quickly shielded her eyes for it to not possess her and Kirby did the same. He closed his eyes and felt his way around Ribbon, getting in front of her.

"You DARE defy me you wad of used Bubble Gum?!" The orb spoke dramatically, Kirby could feel Ribbon trembling but only reassured her, by softly touching her. "You will LOSE this fight!"

The orb rushed at Kirby and he was able to quickly swat it away. Kirby had to fight the sphere with his eyes closed. He didn't have a great look at his surroundings— not like it mattered. As long as he could sense the dark energy, he'd do perfectly fine. Actively fighting it though, and making sure Ribbon wasn't hurt was another challenge.

Kirby grabbed Ribbon and set her on his back as she ran through the Alps, occasionally tripping on any rocks he'd run over. The sphere was hot on his trail and the only thing he could do was keep running until he hit a wall, but he got an idea. He started to inhale all of the stray rocks he tripped over and swallowed them all quickly. He rose into the air and gained the Rock Copy Ability, which caused the Dark Sphere to hesitate, before continuing to chase him, but Kirby held his ground. He planted his left foot back and waited.

He had one chance at this.

He frowned, opened his eyes, and struck the floating ball with a Stone Uppercut to the eye, blinding it. The ball careened to the floor, struggling to fly, before Kirby then jumped into the air and crushed it. The Dark Matter Sphere started to explode into small bits before groaning in pain and completely disappearing from this realm. Kirby nodded and discarded the ability. Ribbon opened her eyes meekly to see Kirby staring back at her happily.

Ribbon shared the same smile, thankful that she met Kirby all those many years ago. "Y-You did it..." Ribbon collapsed causing Kirby to dash straight to her. He picked her up softly and noticed how cold her body felt. Although Ribbon broke her fall landing on Kirby, it was still quite a fall she endured.

Panicking slightly, the only thing Kirby could think to do was quickly stuff her in his mouth. It was the warmest place he could think of. He then ran out of the Alps, hoping he could go somewhere to hopefully nurse the fairy back to health. There was one place he had in mind, but he had to be quick, there's no telling how long she had.

...And Kirby didn't want her to wake up inside his mouth. The last time that happened, Kirby got a serious scolding.

Adeleine however, was so fixated on finding orange blobs that she didn't even think to consider the pink one that grabbed her friend.

Chapter Text

Adeleine sat there frantically searching for Ribbon. She was gone, she had to be gone, Ribbon's not that slow of a flier and she can't spot her through the glass clouds. What could've happened to her? Did a Galbos eat her? Did she lose track of where she was going? Whatever the reason, Adeleine gave up after about three hours of shouting and searching. Now she sat tired, panting, waiting for the hell to be over.

She looked down at her still bandaged hand and clenched it. It didn't hurt as much when she did that—before she'd grimace and groan with pain. But something she hadn't realized was that she was still hungry. She looked at the cyan Parasol the Waddle Doo gave her many nights ago and soared down the mountain using the canopy as a glider. She was able to land adjacent to the apple tree she sent Ribbon to go to and sighed as she picked one of the massive apples from the tree.

However, she quickly held her Parasol once she heard the loud flaps of wings approaching her. She quickly discarded the apple she nibbled and held her ground, nervously shielding her face from whatever threat was looming. It could be a mother Pteran, maybe she was just getting food for her young.

But as she held it closer to her face and heard the wings get louder by the moment, they were silenced and she could hear footsteps approaching her. She couldn't tell who or what it was, but a shred of relief seeped over her body when she heard the familiar curious grunt. "Painter." He said somewhat coldly. "I never see you in these parts, why are you here?" His question came off more as an interrogation.

"That's just the thing! I was with Ribbon not too long ago and she left. And I was hoping that I could find Bandana Dee using the mountains up there." She pointed to the starry mountain, but it's not like he could see it, from how dark it was. "Have you seen him around anywhere?"

The Knight hummed to himself and nodded, "I encountered him in Turnip Tundra a while ago. He helped me a great deal." Adeleine sighed happily, knowing that her friend was safe.

"What did he do to help?"

Meta Knight turned to face her for the first time and revealed his maskless face causing Adeleine to gasp slightly. The warm golden eyes looked so sincere, yet so ominous. "I was possessed by Dark Matter and he was able to reveal my weakness." He gestured to his face, "I was able to fight the Dark Matter in its purest form and beat it swiftly—if it weren't for him, I'd be attacking you right now." With another grunt, he extended his wings to attempt to fly, but Adeleine grabbed his feet before taking off.

"Wait! I need help!" She begged the knight who awkwardly turned to her. "I want you to train me."

"Train? But you have your paintings to do all of your work for you."

"But I can't rely on them anymore. I need to be able to fight and pick up a weapon." Meta Knight gave a mused chuckle and almost flashed a smile before catching himself.

"It's late, but that's the perfect time to train. We won't have to worry about any inhabitants bothering us." He took note of the Parasol in her hand and nodded. "They're very versatile and respectable weapons. Parasol uses a lot of similar techniques to swordsmanship, so this will be easy teaching for me," He explained as Adeleine held the weapon tightly, "It's all about focusing your energy."

"Focusing your energy?"

"Yes. And using that energy to unlock the full potential of your weapon." He gestured for the Parasol, causing Adeleine to hand it to him. "Watch me." He closed his eyes for a second and stood his ground, before reopening them and sending a massive gust of wind, rushing water, and stars at the apple tree, causing it to shake and drop several of the apples on the ground, one of them landed towards them and he picked it up and took a bite out of it before nodding and tossing it away. Adeleine was awe-struck from the attack and could only look at the cobalt knight in honor.

"I've never seen Kirby do that before...!"

"Kirby has much to learn. Only recently has he perfected the Skyward Beam with his Sword Ability. But I digress: A Parasol's canopy is made from the roughest and most durable material, it can protect you from even the spikiest Gordos." Adeleine nodded, taking mental notes from her new mentor. "Parasols are also great using offensively, it's almost a dance of water and wind while you defeat your enemies with it." He handed the Parasol back to her, unsheathing the Galaxia which illuminated his face and gloved hands. "Now. I want you to follow this motion.

Night became morning and Adeleine was currently fighting her painted Ice Dragon for the seventh time that night. Any time she'd get hit, trip, or miss her Parasol Swings, each and every time that happened, she'd hear the same, cold. "Again." From the Knight breathing down her neck. But she had finally managed to defeat the painted beast without missing or getting hit resulting in a nice "Hmm," from the observant Knight. "Very good." He clapped, Kirby was able to defeat Fatty Puffer with a Parasol long ago...a vivid memory of him and the beast played in his mind as he saw Kirby flawlessly fell the rotund fish without breaking a sweat. "You're starting to improve."

Adeleine was panting as she saw the Ice Dragon explode in a massive goopy paint.

She didn't feel happy about beating her Ice Dragon flawlessly. She felt tired. Almost discouraged. Even though the Winged Warrior's compliment made her happy, she didn't smile. But she already knew that she had a long way to go, especially if Bandana Dee was almost half across Popstar.

So there they went. Morning came, Adeleine was full from her apple breakfast, Meta Knight at her aid, she felt determined, if only a little frustrated. She took off her beret to adjust the navy bandana that was still on her head for safekeeping, Still there... according to Meta Knight, he was still okay. In fact, he even saved him, he didn't need her help, because Bandana Dee is just as capable as Kirby even without his trusty spear.

Their trek wasn't that bad. Adeleine could tell the moment the wind got harsher that they were at least near Iceberg and just south of Dedede's winter castle was White Wafers. It took them almost a day and a half of continuous walking—Adeleine was still cross about not being able to fly on Meta Knight's back for 'training purposes'—, =but they made it. The Squash Marsh proved to be a challenge, however: Adeleine's smock was completely muddied by the wetlands and there were several Gunk populating the area. And because of this 'challenge' Meta Knight posed on her, she had to defeat them on her own. She avoided their seedy bullets using the shield and defeated them quickly with a simple bash on the head, knocking them out for the time being. But outside of that, there weren't any other encounters.

As Meta Knight was now walking in the snow with Adeleine he could get a sense of dread from her and decided to speak up, "You're doing a serviceable job, Painter."

How did he know that's what she was thinking about? "I'm doing the best I can," she said quietly as she continued forward using her Parasol to block some of the harsh winds thrown in her direction. Meta Knight's metal boots would help him keep his balance in the face of harsh gusts of winds. She looked down at her injured hand, still bandaged terribly, still hurting, but a lot better than when she first got injured, that's for sure. "I wish I could paint..."

"Whatever do you mean?" He asked, confused. She stopped abruptly, as did he. She showed the knight her bruised hand and he held it with his gloved hands.

"I'm not ambidextrous either. All of my talents is put into my right hand and since it's all messed up, I can't even draw well enough!" She continued walking in a storm, only resulting in Meta Knight sighing knowingly.

"Patience is necessary." He only simply said, resulting in Adeleine rolling her eyes. You wouldn't know patience if Dedede smacked you with a hammer enough times! She thought to herself angrily, however, Meta Knight burst into a full chuckle. "You'd be surprised the number of times the King has hit me with his hammer, accidentally or not. However, I would never let that happen to me now." Adeleine blushed to forget that Meta Knight had a habit of reading people's minds. "But, I'm serious." His voice now firmer, "It is integral to understand that not getting something right the first time is how we learn. In fact, Kirby didn't even know how to harness the power of his Copy, when he was first brought in by the Spring Breeze."

Adeleine's initial fuming started to stop as the knight continued his wise words. "You're right." She inhaled and exhaled a breath of cold air, but she was flung back into the snow, it pillowing up as she sled back. "Wh-What?"

"Adeleine, dodge to your left!" Without thinking she quickly lunged out of the snow and got to her feet, seeing what attacked her in the first place. She flipped her Parasol closed and took a glance at two Gaw Gaws growling at her. With an angry glare, she rushed forward and smacked the two beasts across the face. One of the towering dogs fled the scene, its tail between its legs, but the second one kept its ground and wasn't backing down without a fight. Meta Knight was originally going to rush in to help but unsheathed the Galaxia when he could feel determination rushing through her. I'm winning this fight! Her thoughts constantly echoed.

She held the Parasol with an iron grip and closed her eyes as the giant animal was lunging at her with its bearing fangs. She'd parry the attack with the canopy and hit it on its head using the rod of the weapon. Unfortunately, the wild Gaw shook off the attack quickly and began another perilous lunge. Adeleine was caught off guard and was thrown back into the snow. Using her weakness as an opportunity, the Gaw would burrow underground and reemerge in front of her, pawing at her violently and striking her face. The artist felt a gash on her cheek and felt her silken hair with the graze of her arm. She shot up and began to pat her head frantically, no cloth. Her beret was on the ground next to her, but she couldn't feel...The Bandana! The artist saw it on the snow floor and made a dash to pick it up, but her plan was foiled by the Gaw Gaw that picked it up with its teeth and mercilessly ate it like it was chewing gum. Adeleine looked at the chewed-up cloth blankly, as if it were telling her the secrets of the universe.

Her morale. The one thing that kept her going. The cloth that she held on to, hoped to return to him.

Was now being digested.

The energy was building up in her chest as she clutched it and the Parasol, said weapon began to shimmer a pure yellow. As the Gaw finished his snack, he'd attempt another lunge at the young heroine. She simply opened her eyes and started to slowly walk towards the foe and the walk soon transitioned into a sprint. The painter jutted the Parasol in front of her as it emitted stars from its canopy and began to drill with lightning speed. Both the girl and monster had made contact with each other. With every inch of her enraged body, Adeleine had spun the Parasol quickly and stabbed the Gaw in the stomach.

It pierced him.

The beast and canopy exploded upon impact and the Gaw Gaw was sent flying back into the snow meters away from the one that struck him. Adeleine had sheathed her parasol and continued her steady pace forward. Her eyes were slightly devoid of life, almost as if another being had taken over her.

Meta Knight could only nod his head as he followed close behind. The Parasol Drill. An attack with such force, able to even topple the heaviest of giants.

The Pink Puffball was running with the Strawberry Fairy. He was determined to get her home safely. He was running as fast as his burgundy feet could take him, his companion in his mouth as he continued running. He looked around left and right until he saw a flock of Birdon flying in the wind. With a determined nod, he softly took Ribbon out of his mouth, set her on the ground, and inhaled the flock towards him.

The flock was confused, squawking and chirping, but one got caught in Kirby's vacuum and eventually end up in his mouth. As Kirby swallowed the creature, he then picked Ribbon up and took to the skies now donning the Wing Copy Ability. With this, not only could he make it home safer, but he could also make it back to Green Greens faster and potentially try to heal Ribbon himself.

Within an hour of fast flying, Kirby landed back at his dome-cream-colored house. Or at least it would be dome colored if it didn't look severely burnt. He sighed realizing that he'd have to do a LOT of home improvement to get everything back to normal, but that's a task that could wait.

He opened the nearly broken door and saw his tiny home in disarray. His—as he called it—'Copy Closet" was in total disarray, he couldn't even see any of his copy hats, the window was shattered to bits and glass was on the floor, and his comfy bed was against the door as he opened it, it slamming to the ground as he creaked the door. He couldn't even get inside through the door! Kirby sighed angrily to himself, he swore on Sakurai that he'd utterly destroy Dark Matter for controlling him and destroying his home in such a fashion. But after lamenting, he flew up and saw the destroyed chimney of his home and flew in.

He and Ribbon were covered in soot, but at least they were now inside. With a heavy sigh of relief, Kirby sat Ribbon down on the floor and inhaled the bed from the door. It noisily slid its way away from the door frame and Kirby celebrated as he was finally able to get his bed back upright. He quickly made it up and placed the tiny fairy underneath the covers.

.o.o.o.

She fluttered her eyes open but had a painful headache as she did. She kept her eyes open slowly, only able to see a faint light of color scuttling around her. From one side to another this thing was shifting to and fro; she got too curious and fully opened her eyes. She caught a glimpse of Kirby donning the Cleaning Copy Ability Bandana. Kirby was sweeping the floors and picking up several items off of the floor, before dropping the broom—and technically losing the ability—and rushing over to a weak Ribbon.

He gave a series of poyo's ranging from joy to sadness, a bit of concern, and anger. "Kirby!" Ribbon excitedly screamed as she lunged into his flabby arms, but she was quickly pushed right back into bed. "Uff—Hey!" Ribbon was then tucked back into the covers, muffling her voice. "Kirby! I'm okay! Really!" She threw the covers off of her, to attempt to fly, but as she started fluttering her wings she could feel her muscles tense into a cramp, resulting in her squirming in place. "I-I can't fly..." The Puffball shook his head.

"N-No." He attempted to say clearly, hoping to get his point across.

"No? B-But Kirby I can't just sit here and sleep knowing that Dark Matter is on the loose!" He put his hand on her shoulder and shook his head again. He poyo'd understandingly. He knew that Ribbon had a point and that they had to fight, but it was a better idea to gather resources and do an all-out attack on Dark Matter. He had no idea where the Crystal Shards were, but he knew for a fact that Ribbon was the ticket to defeating Dark Matter. He gestured to his chest just like he did those many years ago and Ribbon smiled softly. "I trust you, Kirby." The same words she uttered when they first met. Now seeing eye-to-eye Kirby tucked Ribbon into the bed as she slowly started to drift asleep again as Kirby continued trying to tidy up his room.

Thankfully, a Broom Hatter gave him this broom to inhale, and the Birdon he swallowed earlier added to the Copy Cap Compendium, he called his closet. Now, if only he could obtain several more powerful Copy Abilities find King Dedede and rescue him, get with him, Bandana Dee, and Meta Knight, they could truly put a stop to Dark Matter's antics and Popstar could be at peace once again. He nodded to himself as he thought about the idea, occasionally glancing at the fairy and her weak state.

For her. He thought to himself as he set the Broom and Copy Hat in his closet next to the Wing Headdress. He exited his home and made a mental reminder to be back by sunrise.

Chapter Text

It was a very odd sensation he was feeling, it was like this weird mix of an out-of-body experience combined with a splitting headache. It was something he didn't want to experience again. He felt like a zombie—and practically acted like one too. Any creature, harmless or not, that stood in his way was electrocuted and shocked by his beam whip. His vision also increased a thousand-fold, but man his depth perception sucked. Bandana Waddle Dee or in this case, Waddle Doo sighed to himself. He was stuck like this for days and the Dark Matter controlling him had such a powerful grip on him that he wasn't even able to do anything besides think and endlessly suffer.

As his husk of a body mindlessly wandered the powdered snow, his eye picked up on a rotund creature. It was a bright orange and brown and it certainly looked bigger than any other Dee or Doo he's seen around. Carefully walking up to it, the features were clear and he could tell it was carrying something. Rick...? He thought to himself as he could already tell his husk of a body was charging a Wave Beam. No no no! Stop! He tried halting his body, but he only got a splitting headache in response. The Waddle Doo then shot the energy at the hamster who seemed to be minding his own business. He was shocked and his colorful fur was now charred. The hampster whipped his head around and got tunnel vision.

"Ay! What's your problem? Can't you see I'm busy here?!" He said dusting off his fur and trying to carry whatever satchel was on his back.

"Just following instructions." Waddle Doo said plainly. Rick! Help me! The trapped Waddle Dee begged.

"Instructions or not, I'd at least expect an apology from you zapping me like that." The Waddle Doo did another stance and launched another wave of plasma at the hamster sending him back into the ground. Rick was starting to get irate with the creature in front of him.

"Alright, that's it! If it's a fight you want, then let's have it pal!" Rick started to chase the little Waddle Doo around, attempting to Gobble him, but the Waddle Doo acted quickly and shot another barrage of beams at the rodent, but with quick thinking, Rick was able to eat one of the plasma projectiles and as a result his charred fur now turned into a golden yellow, now donning the Beam Copy Ability. "Yeah! Let's fight fire with fire!"

The hamster's superior size gave him the advantage in the beam fight, summoning a beam whip of his own. He was able to beat the Waddle Doo with a taste of his own medicine and gave a cheeky grin, but the grin was wiped off his face when the Doo realized Rick's inexperience he hopped into the air and blasted down several plasma explosions into the snow. Each energy ball landed on the chubby hamster shocking him and the ground around him. Rick retreated for a second in an attempt to change his strategy but thought to himself. I don't know how to do any of that fancy stuff Kirby does! But after looking down at himself he realized that he was the solution to his initial problem. Discarding the Beam Copy Ability, he match the Waddle Doo's level and kicked him out of the air, and crushed him under all of his weight. Using this as an opportunity he pounded him in the snow with his little feet and nodded. "Well, that takes care-a that."

He walked over to his snow-covered satchel and placed it right on his back where it belonged. But everything around him exploded in a field of energy that paralyzed him. He fell over and the bag was basically scorched beyond belief. "No! The Maxim Tomatoes!" Rick's attempts to grab two heavily charred tomatoes were in vain as he could barely manage to even lift his arm.

The Waddle Doo towered over him, much to the inner Waddle Dee's dismay. Rick! I'm sorry! He tried his hardest to stall out the Waddle Doo's finishing blow, but nothing he was doing was stopping him. But it wasn't until there was a massive blow to the side of him that caused him and the Waddle Doo to get disoriented. With his burgundy hand resting on his face he awoke to see—

Adeleine?

She stood in front of the troublesome Waddle Doo. She knew that most weren't normally hostile towards people, but this one had some sort of vendetta against Rick. She brandished and opened her Parasol, anticipating a large blast of plasma to be sent her way, but that shot never came. Instead, the Waddle Doo simply stared at her, it was almost unnerving, but what struck her off guard when the Waddle Doo started fleeing from their fight.

She's okay! I have to try and get away from here! As he tried to flee, there was another skull-crushing headache, resulting in him falling over and cradling his head with his hands. "No." The booming voice rang in his ears, it was so loud it almost made his eardrums burst. "You shall obey." A sudden pain overcame the possessed Dee as he was still hunched over on the ground. "I don't recommend you fail this fight." The Doo's eye began to glow, its large pupil turning the ominous red that too many people feared. He rose in the air and grew to an enormous size. His body was covered in black energy and Adeleine began to tremble in fear. As he rose to the ground and the black energy faded away from him, he grew three times in stature and his skin turned a golden yellow.

She attempted to hit the beast with her Parasol, but he only smacked the object out of her hands and crushed the umbrella under his feet.

She ran for her life as the massive King Doo shook the earth as it ran after her. Though, while it was running, it appeared to interrupt itself. It seemed like it was struggling with something. Although she didn't want to, she had to resort to one thing. She took out a canvas and was painting while running. It didn't prove to be effective, since all of her strokes were rushed and wouldn't provide any help if they were just blotches of mess. If she were to put up her easel, she would've no doubt, been crushed. An attempt at an Ice Dragon did do something though. The ratchet-ly drawn Ice Dragon spit out an ice block which slowed the King Doo down, but he was able to kick the painting which exploded into a painty goop.

Then she was cornered. A large mountain was blocking her and the Doo slowed its run to a crawl, threatening her every step of the way. Adeleine began to frantically paint, hoping anything would save her. Unfortunately, all of the attempts of a savior were for naught as the hulking giant crushed every single thing that popped out of the canvas, from Bronto Burts to Scarfies, nothing worked.

She had her back against the cold wall and lowered her head. The Doo saw this as a sign of weakness and began to charge the largest Wave Beam it could. While the slow charging took place, Adeleine slowly accepted her fate and began to paint one last thing. One last stroke here. Some orange here...a sad smile there. She set the canvas on the ground and stopped her cowering. It popped from the canvas and walked over to the demonic Waddle Doo. It caught his attention and he stopped his devastating charge. He glanced at it.

And it brought a tear to his eye.

A tiny Deelight walked over to him, paired with a tiny Adeleine. They hugged and then dissipated into the cold air. The dark energy left him almost immediately giving him a second of free will.

"Adeleine! Please help me!" He cried out, hoping his voice would be able to reach her. She reacted and saw the giant Doo trying to restrain itself. He suffered another large burst of pain and cried out, before forcibly charging another plasma blast. It launched from his eye and barely missed Adeleine by a hair. The massive blast tore a chunk out of the mountainside and struck the King Doo. Dropping the ground completely.

The energy left its body completely and it shrunk back to regular size.

As Adeleine turned over the body, she saw it be a Waddle Dee, trembling from the cold and badly bruised, "I'm sorry." The voice squeaked. Disregarding her friend for a second, she saw the Dark Matter Sphere hovering in the air, attempting to get away, but with quick thinking, she used her brush and smacked the eyeball multiple times, resulting in it exploding in a dark cloud of energy.

She looked wistfully at her friend and began to draw Maxim Tomatoes on the canvas, hoping one would pop out, but all of her attempts were futile, except for one—she had to feed it to him. As she tenderly held the tomato in her hand a silly thought popped up in her mind. She never really thought about how Waddle Dees ate, but questions like that had to wait.

After years of seeing Kirby and Bandana Dee do this technique it was time for her to do it.

.o.o.o.

Thankfully, it wasn't long before Dee woke up to Adeleine propping him up. She smiled warmly, thankful that her tactic worked. As he fluttered his eyes open, he glanced at Adeleine and then back at his hands. "A-Am I...me?" He asked dumbly.

"I hope you are." She looked down for a moment, before choking out her next words. "...You were possessed...I'm so glad you're alright!"

"You're not hurt are you? I would've never forgiven myself if I hurt you! I-I don't even know how it happened." Adeleine hummed to herself, before putting her hand to her chin.

"Can you remember what happened before you got possessed?"

"I can try..." He was able to detail everything, from when he was launched by Dedede, to where he was staying with Deelila and the fight with Meta Knight, "...then I saw Kirby," his voice was trailing off. "I saw him and then...I just..." He hesitated for a second, trying to remember all of what happened. "I think he touched me...but after that, I saw him fly south. Then...my vision was blurred and all I could hear was this subtle voice."

"Voice?" Adeleine could vaguely remember when she was possessed by Dark Matter and his distinctive booming voice. She shuddered from the bad memories.

"It was giving commands, saying stuff like: 'Eliminate everything in your path' and that's what I was doing. For days, until now." Adeleine gave a concerned glance and Dee noticed. "I mean—I was really trying to stop 'myself', but I don't think anyone was seriously injured, just the stray Scarfies and Chillies."

"I'm just glad you're okay...I missed you too much."

"I missed you too." They both stood up and hugged each other, Adeleine copping a small blush on her already rosy cheeks.

The two of them quickly rushed over to Rick who still happened to be beaten and bruised. As the Painter and Warrior approached the chubby rodent, he turned around and sighed when he realized it was his two friends.

"Man, am I glad to see you guys!" After the pair helped him up, he was finally able to feel his body and did a massive stretch. "My stuff!" He looked on the ground and saw the damaged satchel and looked inside to see the juicy fruit still fine. One in the bag got smushed, but the other two looked to be okay. "Phew..."

"What's in the bag, Rick?" Bandana Dee asked opening up the aforementioned bag, basically answering his question. "Maxim Tomatoes? Why do you have so many?"

"Well it's a long story," he said scratching his belly, "Well...it's long enough to fill up this chapter at least."

"What?"

"Ever since Kirby used that supernova attack on me I was sent thousands of feet into the air. I remember waking up and seeing all white which was pretty appropriate since I landed in Cloudy Park. When I woke up I saw King Dedede looming over me and he had this bizarre grin on his face—it kind of spooked me. So I tried to run as fast as I could, but I knew I wouldn't've been able to outrun him, so he beat me with his hammer and smacked to an area I'd never even seen before..."

As the hamster lifted from the ground, he landed miles and miles away from Cloudy Park. Although he knew he was still in the skies of Popstar, nothing remotely seemed familiar to him. As he continued walking though, he saw a flock of Birdon flying away, one carelessly bumping into the hamster and squawking wildly.

"Ahhh! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" The bird screamed at him, shielding her face from the large animal's wrath.

"Woah, woah, settle down! I'm not gonna hurt you, buddy. What's the problem?"

"I-It's happening in Nutty Noon! The King of Dreamland has been terrorizing us and stealing our crops and food! We were planning to ask the 'King of the Skies' for help, but we haven't seen him anywhere!" Rick looked at her oddly.

"Don't worry, I'll help you find where your King is AND I'll put a stop to King Dedede!"

"Really?! Oh, thank you, kind stranger!"

"Now I know how Kirby feels. Someone has a problem and it's just too hard to refuse when you know you're doing something good. Either way, this Birdon—she told me her name was Donna—so Donna led me through Coco Constellations. Adeleine I know you've lived in Cloudy Park for a while, but the view in Coco Constellations was even more breathtaking if you can believe it. The heights were so high I could see all of Popstar. But as Donna and I were properly introducing each other, we eventually made our way through the brown and tasty clouds to get to Cloudy Park and try and find the 'King of the Skies'."

As the two animals were walking—or well Donna was flying—Rick started to get slightly nostalgic, like seeing the Grand Strawberry Cloud palace or remembering the hops, skips, and jumps, he had to make to visit Pick during his and Kirby's adventure. When all of this was over, he figured that he might as well swing by and say hi. But their trek was put to an abrupt halt as Dynablade was perched on top of one of the mountains and started making her large cries. Donna flew up to the metal bird and bowed, her pilot gear slipping off her face slightly.

"Ma'am! What brings you here in Cloudy Park?" Dynablade gave a few squawks and caws to her supposed bird companion, resulting in the violet Birdon jumping in shock. "K-King Dedede took your children?!"

"He what?!" Rick said, jaw dropping to the floor. The sad mother started having tears in her eyes, as she thought King Dedede was only going to help feed her children, not take them away and injure her wings with his mighty hammer.

"Don't worry ma'am. We'll be sure to fix your wing and bring your children back safe and sound!"

"After some more walking, we finally got to this massive tree. It housed all kinds of birds, but the famed, 'King of the Skies' flew down and greeted the both of us personally."

"My, my. What a sight for sore eyes," the owl cheerfully chirped, greeting his old friend.

"Coo? You're the 'King of the Skies?'" The purple owl chuckled again.

"Saving Popstar countless times with our Pink Friend gets you that reputation. Haven't you heard that Kine and Mine are part of the royal guards of Ripple Field?" The hamster deadpanned. "You'd probably get more notable attention if you weren't just lying around all day eating apples in Whispy's Woods." The hamster growled already knowing that he got figured out.

"Like you're any better! How could you never tell your best friend about your royal status...you visit me all the time!"

"I have told you! Several times! But you always thought I was joking!"

"Can you blame me? An—"

"Your majesty, we need your assistance!" Donna interrupted the two. "King Dedede has been terrorizing the locals and stealing our crops. We need to do something!" Coo hummed to himself before nodding.

"I heard about Dynablade's chicks being kidnapped too." He flew away for a second before quickly returning with a satchel full of Maxim Tomatoes. "These treats are for her chicks, me and the other Birdons will try and repair her wings while Rick, you stop King Dedede." Rick put the bag on his back and nodded

"You can count on me!"

"With that, both me and Donna were able to make our way back to Nutty Noon and we went inside one of the palaces where we saw a lot of Waddle Dee and Waddle Doo soldiers. Donna carried me on her back, and we were able to fly inside one of the windows without being detected. After some walking around, we saw the supposed throne room and spotted Dyna's chicks." He stopped his memory and sighed sadly, "Well. We were GOING to sneak behind King Dedede, snatch the chicks and go, but..."

"STOP! What are you doing in the name of Lord Dedede?!" A Waddle Dee soldier screamed, carrying a spear several sizes too big for him.

"Well, nothing. I just wanted to umm... complain. About. Taxes."

"You should know better than to complain about taxes to Lord Dedede. He can't count very well." Rick started sweating.

"Well, I wanted to ask him about the property tax in a certain area in Dreamland. He had an appointment with me earlier, but said he had to 'steal some grub, and he'd get back to me after the fact'." The Servant Dee lowered his spear and sighed.

"That sounds like him. You may enter the royal throne room to discuss your matters."

After making their way inside, Dedede was lazily snoring and sitting on a throne, which had lazily placed Dedede stickers and posters on them to seem more personalized. The three bright yellow chicks were stuck in a cage, chirping at each other and trying to break the cage with their wings, but they simply weren't strong enough. "Follow me," Donna whispered as she silently flapped her wings over to the cage. After throwing out some sharp feathers from her flapping wings, the cage's chains were able to split into three and freed the birds, but the cage itself was another story. As the cage clattered to the ground, King Dedede awoken with dark pupils and an angry glare.

"whhaaAAAAT ARE YOU DOING?!" He shouted to the heavens, already reaching for his mallet. "I already whacked the stuffin out of you, rodent! I told you to stop trying to steal my food!" With angry stomps and angrier hammer swings, King Dedede was in a rage, Dark Matter being able to possess him and have full control over his strength and power. Donna was able to grab the cage with her talons and lift off with the three heavy chicks, taking them straight out the window. Rick was trying to follow, but several of the King's men stood in his path. He couldn't defeat them all AND King Dedede in one fell swoop.

"I closed my eyes, already knowing I was going to get smacked into next Tuesday, but just then this SHIIINK noise echoed through the room and Dynablade burst through the room and took the whole room off the building! All of the Waddle Dees and Waddle Doos fled and Dynablade smacked King Dedede with her talons and ate his hammer right in front of him. He immediately turned back to normal and apologized profusely to her. She didn't like his apology, but she flew away anyway. Everything happened to be okay since then, but then I remembered that I had to figure out where you guys went too. Since Dynablade's chicks appeared to be healthy, they didn't need the Maxim Tomatoes, so as a token of their gratitude, they let me keep them! I've been saving these for emergencies just in case, but now I'm down to two tomatoes."

.o.o.o.

"And that's why I have so many Maxim Tomatoes," Rick finished, both Adeleine and Bandana Dee on his back.

"Woah..." Dee said in awe, hearing about the many legends about the mythical Dynablade. "So then the Great King is back to normal! Now the only one that we know is possessed is Kirby!" As he fist pumped, happy about all of the Dark Matter takedowns, one thing finally stuck out to him. "Kirby..." She turned towards Adeleine and realized, "Where's Ribbon?"

"I'm not sure. I was with her ever since we all separated, but I haven't seen her in ages. We all need to regroup." Everyone nodded in unison to the painter's advice. "Rick, do you think Dedede made it back to Dreamland?"

"He had to. All of what I told you happened just the other day. If he was smart, he would've realized that Dreamland would've been in trouble by now."

"Then, how about this:" Bandana Dee started, getting everyone's attention. "Let's go ahead and go back to Dreamland. Then, once we're there, we'll split up and try to find Ribbon and King Dedede."

"What about Meta Knight?"

"I actually know where Meta Knight is. He's in this igloo me and him saw earlier, he stayed behind to warm up while I went out searching for you and Ribbon."

"An igloo?"

Everyone was at Deelila's igloo. Several of her Gaw Gaw were hurt, but the rest of them managed to be unscathed by the harsh conditions of Meta Knight's Blizzard everyone was inside having a small talk about their plans and regrouping to find everyone else in Dreamland, Adeleine was outside, painting. It was such a beautiful sunset outside, that she excused herself to go draw. After some time with her landscape drawing, she was finally starting to get the hang of drawing with her left hand. It was no longer uncomfortable to her, and she was able to get faster swipes out by the Dee was the second to head outside and brandished an axe.

As he greeted Adeleine he started getting some of the leftover lumber from the shed and started splitting them. The noise proved to be calming for Adeleine, the mix of the calming evening wind and the small grunt from the Waddle Dee put her in a cathartic headspace. She snapped out of that state however, when Dee threw a couple of logs on the ground and lit a fire, by using the lighter Deelila gave smiled at his gesture and stopped painting for a second to sit down on the snow and warm herself up. Dee decided to do the same thing.

"Y'know," he spoke softly, "I wanted to say, thanks. For saving me."

"You would've done the same for me." He nodded profusely.

"Did you have a Maxim Tomato too? I know Rick didn't give us any."

"Hm? I didn't why do you ask?"

"...I remember seeing that you only had one Maxim Tomato. Did you eat something too?" Adeleline started blushing.

"Well...I—yeah I did eat one. And I also healed you too! I just um. You know. I did Face-to-Face." The Waddle Dee blushed alongside her.

"R-Really?" He scratched the back of his head, "I-I see. Thank you regardless Adeleine."

"Y-Yeah..." It wasn't long until the pair scootched closer to each other when the winds started to blow a little more violently. Although it was silent, the two of them knew they were comfortable with each other.

"You've been getting a lot better." He said, admiring her painting skill and also admiring her skills in combat. "I'm sorry I messed up your hand, that was the last thing I wanted to do to you..." She paused for a second, not expecting the sudden apology.

"It kinda helped me in a way. It made me less reliant on my paintings and more reliant on actual combat skills. I feel like I'm useful now—"

"Don't say that." He hushed her quickly, "You've ALWAYS been helpful. Giving us food and refreshments, giving us great morale, and being an amazing artist and friend! I mean, what else couldn't you do? You helped us save the whole Solar System at one point, despite it being scary and daunting, but you did it with a smile on your face and that's great!" He gave her a side hug and she reciprocated.

"I just always want to make sure I help you guys."

"Trust me, you do a lot more than you think!" The Waddle Dee beamed at his companion to the point that Adeleine almost thought he smiled at her. "I couldn't ask for a better partner," he said genuinely, getting up from the ground and getting all of the chopped lumber. "Welp, I gotta go ahead and take this stuff inside." He was about to enter the door, but turned around, "You're not coming inside?"

"I'm just going to paint some more outside, thanks to you, I've got a fire to keep me warm." He nodded, opening and closing the door behind him. Adeleline got out a new canvas and started painting only things coming out of the canvas were her Waddle Deelights and several with her and Bandana Dee either hugging, holding hands, and one particular pair doing Face-to-Face.

Chapter Text

He spat a star bullet at the ravenous elephant that was doing somersaults and flips alike. He always hated fighting these things. The massive round elephant swung its thunderous trunk around like a helicopter and battered the pink puff with several hits on the head before grabbing him with her trunk. He struggled to escape, but he already knew what was going to happen. Swing...Swing...Swing...SWING!

FWOOSH~

THWACK!

As he screamed, his squishy body bouncing against the wall, he faced the hulking beast that curled into itself and turned into a grey blur of speed, but with quick thinking, Kirby dodged out of the way in time and kicked the elephant into the wall, stunning her completely. The wall shattered and she was hit over the head with hundreds of stray pellets of rocks and debris Kirby found this to be a perfect opportunity. Inhaling the massive rock and spitting it at the Phan Phan caused her to smush into the wall and sit there, completely dazed and unaware. He nodded to himself, already knowing what he had to do next.

With a Super Inhale, Kirby vacuumed the Phan Phan and swallowed it, before rising into the air and donning the Throw Copy Ability. He smiled checking another box in his head. Now that made forty-seven. Going to Orange Ocean was a bit of a long trip for him, admittedly, but he was at least able to feel somewhat nostalgic after going on one of his first grand Adventures. One thing slowly stuck out to him as Kirby looked over the sunset sky and beautiful waters.

The biggest issue was the walk back home...

His fight with the Phan Phan didn't go nearly as smoothly as it did with most others. Bonkers simply gave Kirby a spare hammer of his after helping him retrieve a few coconuts from a tree. Poppy Bros Sr. bowled Kirby a bomb as he was already anticipating an explosive fight, but Kirby only grabbed the bomb, stuffed it in his mouth, and made a mad dash away from the confused pyromaniac; since he only had to travel to the meadows of Green Greens, he made the trip there and back home in about ten or eleven minutes. But the fight with the Phan Phan almost had him on the ropes, so there was no backing down. Not to mention that his main method of transportation—using the Wing ability to fly around Popstar—had been stripped from him during his fight. The cheeky Phan Phan grabbed his Wing Ability Cap and tossed it so far away, that he could've sworn it went into another dimension.

Sigh. He had to hover. He wouldn't find any Wheelies or Birdon for a while. Birdon never frequent the seas and Wheelies are only seen in rocky mountains or the tropical coast since there's less friction from the sand and gravel, thus making for a more uncontrollable, but joyful ride. Or so Kirby's been told. With his blue headband tied securely on his head, he puffed up his body and flew into the sky.

It's taken him a couple of days, but Kirby was at least able to obtain most of his Copy Abilities back, where he'd head home and stuff them back in his Ability wardrobe. Originally, he was hesitant to leave the house and only wanted to stay in Dreamland, in case something were to happen to Ribbon, but since he went through so much trouble to make sure she was okay, resting her wings, and eating well, he'd been rewarding himself by going on riskier adventures. With the looming threat of Dark Matter, he'd need just about every ability he could get, no matter how dangerous the threat was. With no Crystal Gun or Love Love Stick, he'd have to bring out the whole artillery, but thankfully his artillery was almost finished! From Bomb to Archer, Ranger to Cutter, Sleep, and Mini—well those two he could probably do without—he was slowly starting to become the Super Tough Pink Puff many feard him for. But there was only one more ability he needed, one that would really prove useful, he couldn't think of where it would be though. He thought to himself momentarily, as he continued absentmindedly flapping his arms and gaining altitude.

.o.o.o.

Kirby slammed the door open and poyo-shouted to the tiny fairy that was still lying in the bed. "Kirby! You're back!" She cooed. The strawberry fairy attempted to fly over to him and greet him with a hug, but Kirby pushed her back, attempting to not damage her wings any further. She still curiously hovered in front of him regardless, trying to see what the newest ability he brought home was. "What's this one? Is it Fighter? I thought the headband was red?" Kirby demonstrated the ability for her. In an instant, he started to inhale the tiny fairy confusing her greatly. "K-Kirby?! What are you doing?! KIRBY—" His inhaling stopped when she was close enough to grab, the sudden contact made her yip. Reeling back he very softly, threw her back onto the bed, where she hit one of his star-shaped pillows and slammed back down onto the covers.

"Trow!" He tried his best to say.

"Throw?" She questioned leaning herself on the pillow now, "Isn't that similar to Backdrop? Or wait...I remember you saying you defeated Bugzzy in a wrestling match and you got the Suplex Ability, is that the same thing?" She paused for a second. "But then you went to that tournament with Bandana Dee ages ago right? Didn't you learn an ability that made you a Wrestler?" He deadpanned at the fairy who was asking too many questions. He walked over to the fairy, tucked her into bed, and walked over to the wardrobe, stuffing his cobalt headband inside. After closing it, he was about to waltz out the door, but Ribbon stopped. "You're not going to use Wing or Wheel?" He smiled and shook his head, grateful for his friend reminding him of his abilities.

But where he was going, he had to visit Mt. Dedede and visit a particular greedy friend.

"Kirby: State your business at Castle Dedede." One of the spear-wielding Waddle Dees halted the pink creampuff in his tracks earning a slightly confused glare as a reward. "Right. You can't talk. One moment." He turned to his other speared companion and the both of them chatted together before nodding. The Waddle Dee Soldiers handed Kirby a crayon and a strip of paper, hoping he'd get the message and it seemed like he did.

Snatching the utensils from the two, Kirby drew what looked like a band-aid on the sheet of paper and pointed at it, rippling the paper in the process.

"You wish to see the infirmary? Have you gotten sick too Kirby?" Well, he wasn't sick, but he nodded anyway since he didn't have any time to waste. "Oh, dear. First the King and now you? Proceed safely." Both of the soldiers stood their ground and granted Kirby access as he waltzed through the castle and its grandiose cobblestone walls and tacky Dedede banners and insignias that tapered the walls.

After a bit of walking and giving greetings to the Worker and Servant Waddle Dees that nonchalantly passed by, Kirby was finally able to make his way to the royal infirmary where he saw several Waddle Dee Nurses and Doctors zoom around the room as if a meteor were coming to strike them. One Waddle Dee bumped into Kirby and dropped hundreds of records onto the ground, Kirby picked up the papers from the ground and started messily shoving them into her hands.

"Thank you, Kirby! But we need your help! It's the King!"

"Poyo?" He tilted his head.

"Follow me, he's right in this room." After shoving the medical records into another nurse's hands, the young Waddle Dee led him into King Dedede's room. It was a lot more lush compared to the other rooms, Kirby noted. The fat penguin raised his head to see who entered and sighed with relief when he realized it was just his buddy.

"Oh Kirby, it's you!" He screamed, almost leaping out of bed to hug him, but the other doctors restrained him from getting up. He started coughing pathetically and Kirby couldn't help but frown at the sight of him. "I got possessed...again." He laughed sheepishly. "But this time, it was real bad! And then Dyna Blade came! And—and, she gave me all these cuts and bruises!" He began gesturing at the several bandaged cuts and scars on his body, including a rather nasty gash he got on his stomach. He started bawling uncontrollably..."And I stole the food from Cloudy Paarrrrkkkk! I'm so sorry, you know I wouldn't steal again! Honest! It's my duty as a King to protect the residents, even if I don't have jurisdiction over them!" Looks like the most bruised thing was his pride as a king.

At least he seemed to learn his lesson, but Kirby wasn't here for any royal groveling. The blob looked over at the counter and saw several bottles on the counter. Now that's what he needed. As in inhaled several of them, he donned the...What?

He touched the top of his head and felt a burning and bubbly sensation. He took off the cap and saw the Poison Copy Ability on his head. King Dedede fainted and the doctors were trying to fan him awake. They weren't doing such a good job. He looked inquisitively at the doctors and gestured to the King who was still unconscious.

"We would never poison the King! You shouldn't inhale several dangerous medications at a time!" *Noted. At least he had another cap to add to the wardrobe. This time, opting to be safe, Kirby inhaled the gauze and bandages and gained the Doctor Copy Ability, poyo-ing the tiny doctors to move out of the way. He got to Dedede's bed and pulled out a stethoscope.

Th-thump...Th-thump...Seems good. The bruises on his body seem treatable at least, it looks like the Waddle Dees were doing a good job at keeping them sterile. He nodded to the doctors, them all sighing happily. Afterward, Kirby set his chemistry kit on the counter and grabbed a step stool. After adjusting his glasses and thankful that he hadn't run out of glutamate.

One pour here, a stir, and a mix there. Don't forget to add this. This goes with that liquid. A quick cross reference using the Sciences and Medicines book he had with him, and then...bam.

A concentrated dose of Maximus Lycopersicum.

He shook the flask and the red pasty liquid sloshed around. He took a whiff and yep, perfect. He used a Bunsen Burner and set the flash over a holder and waited precisely two minutes for the liquid to boil and simmer. The red turned green after he added a tiny hint of sucrose and another shake.

Kirby then jumped up on the bed and onto King Dedede's stomach and started pouring his concoction down the penguin's throat slowly. He started gulping slowly, but after a minute, he snatched the glass from Kirby and downed the whole thing in seconds. "Whoa! I feel GREAT!" He jumped right out of the bed and flexed his flabby muscles, although he was still bruised, he couldn't feel his previous pain, he was cured! "Say, Kirby, what is that stuff?! It tastes amazing!" Kirby smiled and exited his room.

Another patient was cured. Now he's got to make a house call to a cute fairy.

As he finished making his healthy concoction again, he poured it into a cup for Ribbon to drink, as the flash was too big for her to hold—it was as big as her! She eyed the lime-colored liquid cautiously. It emitted a bright glow and smelled kinda sweet, but Ribbon was hesitant with its friendly nature.

"K-Kirby, are you sure this is safe?" He nodded, taking off his lab coat and headlamp. She gave it another whiff before slowly gulping down the pasty liquid. She smacked her lips. "Oh...Oh! This is rejuvenating! This is heavenly! This is just...tasty..." She couldn't help drinking the concoction making Kirby blush. Similar to Dedede, she'll be healed in no time.

In a matter of seconds, she fell asleep soundly with the cup still in her hands. Kirby turned on the fireplace—the Fire Copy Ability helped—and he tucked Ribbon in for a good night's sleep. He opted to sit in one of his chairs and read silently, probably falling asleep in the process too. But he was taken out of his book with a stern knock at his door.

As he opened it, he saw several of his friends crowded and drawing their weapons, but Kirby was immensely confused seeing all of them.

"There he is! Get him"!

"Po-YO!" He hopped over a spear throw hurriedly closed the door and panted. Are they...? He opened the door timidly and looked into their eyes. No darkness in sight. Instead, he opened the door and shushed everyone as he pointed to Ribbon sleeping on the bed.

The Waddle Dee sighed, the Painter gasped, and the Hamster apologized.

Chapter Text

Rick, Adeleine, Bandana Dee, Kirby, and Ribbon were all inside Kirby's simple domeshaped home enjoying some of the leftover snacks he had stored. Even though he wanted to selfishly eat all of his Kawasaki-baked cookies to himself, he reluctantly started sharing with all of his friends, hoping that they'd appreciate the gesture and thankfully, it seemed like they did. Adeleine was timidly eating the chocolate cookie as she saw Ribbon still soundlessly asleep under the covers; the more she ate the guiltier she felt. She had practically abandoned her and who knows what could've happened to her. But thankfully it seemed like Kirby wasn't possessed and was able to care for her.

Bandana Dee and Kirby were having a conversation, she wasn't paying enough attention to grasp, while Rick slept at the foot of the bed, tired from all of the running around he was doing. He had been going across Popstar on foot without so much as a break or rest, so the chubby hamster needed it.

Adeleine turned to the fireplace and enjoyed its warmth, it made her want to paint, so she did just that. Enjoying the nice atmosphere around some of her closest friends was something she needed. She hadn't seen everyone together and jovial like this in such a long time that she had almost forgotten what it was like to be surrounded by such good company and morale. Instead, opting to use a regular paintbrush instead of her special one, she drew a few of her friends on the canvas. She, King Dedede, Meta Knight, Kirby, Bandana Dee, and all of the Animal Friends including Gooey, and her fairy companion, Ribbon. All of them were mostly reacting to each other, like Kirby and Dedede inhaling most of the food around them, and Gooey and Kine eating fish from the adjacent lake she had just finished painting. Simply painting something like this was causing her to relax, but as she prided herself on her painting, she looked at Kirby's Ability Wardrobe.

All sorts of things were tossed in there, weaponry, Copy Ability hats, everything from A to Z. But the thing that quickly caught her attention was the bright, cherry-red Parasol adorned with stripes and a pointed star tip. Something had popped into her mind as it almost started to lure her, like a worm on a hook. Kirby's Parasols are so much stronger than the average one. Not only are they resistant to all of the elements—not just water, but fire, sleet, and stone too!—but she would be able to deal more damage due to the pointed, starry tip. An upgrade to the old, navy parasol would be useful, especially if things were going to get hectic with Dark Matter.

"...and then I smacked him with the axe!" Kirby gasped dramatically as Bandana Dee started smirking—well as close to smirking as a Waddle Dee could get. He was eating the praise like the pink puff at a buffet. Normally, he'd rather be more reserved and humble, but flexing to his friend was always fun, especially with how supportive Kirby was with his adventures. "Yep! Saw him with no mask too, it was an experience...you had to be there Kirby!"

Kirby was clapping excitedly and shouting, hoping that he was greatly hyping up his best friend. Doesn't he know the number of times me and Meta Knight fought and I broke his mask like that...he thought to himself still having a friendly smile on his face. But using an axe to do it does sound pretty cool! He was considering how using an axe could fare as a Copy Ability...

"Hey, Kirby?" Adeleine asked the pink blob, now directing all of his attention towards her. "Could I use one of the Parasols you have in your closet? Mine is...well it's long gone." She gave a sheepish chuckle, but Kirby, being the upstanding fellow he is, nodded and permitted her to snoop through his Copy Closet.

After carefully maneuvering around several of the hats and avoiding the pointy tips of the spears and swords, she grabbed the Parasol which shimmered in the nice dimly lit room. Just holding it felt powerful, or maybe that was her mind getting the best of her? She was pretty tired after all. Once she grabbed the Parasol, she yawned loudly causing both Kirby and Waddle Dee to look over at her.

"Sleepy?" Bandana Dee asked, already knowing what the answer to the question was. She simply nodded and sat back in her chair three times smaller than her, closed her eyes, and slept like a Noddy. His attention shifted to Kirby who was starting to yawn himself before gently getting inside the bed with Ribbon. After poyo'ing his best friend 'Goodnight' it didn't take him long to doze off either, now leaving Bandana Waddle Dee to the soft sounds of his friends snoring. He didn't feel tired in the slightest, a lot of things were still on his mind, one of the main ones being Dark Matter.

He had been possessed like that before, but that was long before he had honed his talent and skills with the mighty spear. Sure, he was King Dedede's right-hand man and most loyal Waddle Dee, and sure he was fairly inventive, coming up with all sorts of gadgets and vehicles for him and Kirby to use to find Crystal Shards, but he was still...a Waddle Dee. He now had a chance to exact his revenge on Dark Matter himself fully.

As everyone was peacefully resting, Dee was pacing around the room quietly thinking up ideas to dispose of Dark Matter once and for all. Kirby's Crash Copy Ability was an idea, but if he were to get possessed again, there's no telling the hell he could unleash with the Crash Copy Ability. He and Rick were launched thousands of miles away, but for something like that to happen to Ribbon or...he shuddered at the thought of Adeleine taking a full blast of the supernova. She's too weak to—

He stopped himself, looking over at the girl, her paintbrush gingerly dangling in her left hand. It was still wet and dripping teal paint on Kirby's rug. She's not weak. She saved me when I couldn't even save myself. He sighed silently as he disappointingly shook his head. He needs to do better. Groveling toward the King when he was possessed, almost losing his life to Meta Knight, breaking his own promise, and getting possessed by Dark Matter for a second time? I'm losing my touch...He wasn't a common Waddle Dee. Walking around and being a doormat to every single thing that gets in his way.

He was the Waddle Dee. The handsome one with the lethal spear skills. The one that saved Popstar countless times. He side-eyed the Copy Closet and softly maneuvered past Adeleine and opened the door, it made a hushed squeaking sound, but it wasn't loud enough to wake anyone—he wasn't particularly worried about waking up Kirby, he'd slept through a singing competition between Walkies, so a creak from a door was like hearing a snowflake touch the ground to him.

As he looked in the Copy Closet, he found a spear next to a sword and saw Kirby's specific cap for it. A golden headpiece. It certainly looked nice, but it wasn't his style. He needed his old bandana back, but the only place he had them was at Castle Dedede, as well as his hand-crafted spears. Although he and Kirby sparred with spears and he considers him to be a worthy opponent, Kirby's spears weren't as durable as his and had a habit of breaking after too much tension. His were hand-crafted using the finest of lumber from Whispy Woods—with his permission of course. It was deep darkness outside, but the number of times he ran from Kirby's to the castle was more than he could count on his hands—so at least twice. He took one more look at all of his friends before softly closing the Copy Closet and stealthily opening the door to head to Mt. Dedede. A visit to the King would also greatly boost his spirits.

.o.o.o.

After around ten minutes of pure running, he made his way to Castle Dedede. Even at night, the castle was full of life. The two soldiers Dees granted him access, once they figured out who they were speaking to and he was simply meandering inside the castle. All sorts of insignia of the King's peace sign and face were stamped all over ribboned banners, and tall walls. Even though he thought the King would sometimes be selfish, he knew that if things went awry, he'd personally protect all of the men and women inside his walls and out. He's already done it countless times in fact.

He found the barracks room and was greeted by the sleepy soldiers tired from their extensive spear and parasol training. They were sleeping so soundly. What kind of practice had they endured? Normally whenever he enters, at least one or two astute Waddle Dees or Doos glance at him curiously and address their general, but now...everyone was resting peacefully. It felt...unusual...? He couldn't put his finger on it.

As he continued through the tiny room into the backrooms, he found his office. Several memorabilia decorated the room, but what he was most keen on getting was his stash of blue rags. After opening his file cabinet—it was filled to the brim with the things—he sighed and patted the soft fabric on his head. Now his name finally made sense again. Inside of that same drawer was one of his wooden spears, marked with its yellow-cream ribbon on the end. When he finally held it, he shivered. For the first time in days, he finally held the thing that made him feel like himself. All was right with the world. But now he has other things he has to do.

Another small walk through the quaint castle now brought him to the throne room, which also happened to lead to Dedede's room itself. Several of the severant Waddle Dees were standing guard by his door, while others were sleeping, knowing that nothing would happen to their great monarch anyway. After shuffling past the guards that weren't guarding, he lurked inside of Dedede's room.

His bedroom was lush and lavish beyond anyone's comprehension. And there he was, the king sleeping in his pink and green gingham pajamas, he looked so peaceful when he wasn't barking orders at his servants. Although Bandana Dee had a feeling that he'd be pushing his luck and waking the King up, he couldn't help himself. He affectionately hugged the King, dropping his spear to the ground—it softly clattered. King Dedede didn't seem to even notice his presence, instead embracing the hug, causing the little Waddle Dee to grin. Kingly approval was always great, even if he wasn't actively paying attention to you. He stayed like that for a moment, before eventually scampering from Dedede's grasp and sighing. He softly tip-toed out of the room and softly opened the door, but whipped his head when he heard a groggy, "Where are you going?"

"S-Sire?" He peeped, wondering if he was addressing him or not.

"Get back here," his voice was low but warm like a cup of coffee.

"King Dedede?" The Waddle Dee quietly moved towards his blubbery ruler and hovered next to the bed, "You weren't sleeping?"

"Like a baby, until you dropped that spear on the ground." Bandana Dee facepalmed, while the King scolded him. "What did I tell you about entering my room without permission?"

"To not do it, because, 'As royalty, I the Great King Dedede requires all of the beauty sleep he can get so he can look prettier and cuter than Kirby.'"

"Ain't that right?" He mused, before turning over and facing the Waddle Dee with tired, droopy eyes. "But today, you're allowed to sleep in the bed with me. At least this once. And you better not tell any of the other Soldier Dees, you know how jealous they get of you." His eyes widened.

"They get jealous of me?" His eyebrows raised and the penguin coughed.

"That's not important!" He paused, "Well, just consider it being even for me Hammer Flipping you." He sighed wistfully, "You know I wouldn't ever hit you or any of my people. I wasn't acting straight! Dark Matter possessed me and I hated it, every second of it!" He rested a hand on the little Waddle Dee, "If it weren't for Dynablade knocking some sense into me, I'd still be acting like a royal pain to everyone!"

"Well, the good news is that you're free King Dedede!" Bandana Dee cheered hoping to sprinkle in some sweetness to the King's mood, but he mostly brushed it off.

"Our main priority right now is to defeat Dark Matter, Bandana Dee. I'm tired of him possessing me and causing me to attack my people. This is the last time this happens! Today! Right now!" He jolted out of bed and threw the covers off him, covering Waddle Dee with the thick bedspread.

"But sire! Me, Kirby, Adeleine, Ribbon, and Sir Meta Knight are planning a coordinated attack already! Once we get armed and prepared, we'll try and find the cause of Dark Matter and end this once and for all!" The right-hand man spoke under the soft covers.

"Well sign me up too! I'm not goin' without a fight! How dare he control me and my friends like that!" He grabbed his Star Mallet that rested above his bedframe and threw off his pajama gown to fit into his iconic robe.

"Are you sure it can't wait till the morning Sire? Everyone is asleep—and you were too just a few moments ago—don't you think it'd be a better idea if we rested a little bit?" He paused for a second before snapping, "Hey!—Besides you promised me that I could sleep in your bed!" The monarch halted.

"Well...I guess I did say you could do that." He hummed to himself, "Alright. We go to Pinky's house at the crack-a dawn." He threw off his robe and grabbed his pajamas. "But at the CRACK of dawn! You hear me?" Bandana Dee saluted and the King gave a hearty laugh. "This is why you were always my favorite."

Inside 'Pinky''s house, everyone was now awake and going over strategies on how to deal with the threat of Dark Matter. Meta Knight and King Dedede were now in the dome-shaped home, giving their own two cents on strategies, but their methods were vastly different from each other.

"Yes, King Dedede, I understand that," Meta Knight was in the middle of rebutting one of the chubby penguin's attack plans. "But you cannot tell me that going straight towards the threat without a methodical plan is a good idea."

"Sure it is!" He points an accusing finger at Kirby who's on the bed with Ribbon, "Kirby here has been rushing head into danger ever since I've known him, and he's saved us countless times!"

"But you forget to realize that he had also unleashed Nightmare from the Fountain of Dreams."

"Hey! Well, that was—"

"Or when Kirby had guided Marx into making his wish with a Nova." Dedede inhaled, but Meta Knight cut him off, "Or fairly recently when Kirby had helped Magolor recover his ship parts and nearly took control of Popstar." The whole room turned towards Kirby who looked back sheepishly, "Point being: Kirby is a powerful force, yes, but tact isn't his strong suit. What we need is a methodical way of beating him, so he'll no longer be a threat to us."

"The Love Love Stick and Rainbow Sword have been sealed away and haven't been seen in decades. And the Crystal Shards are nowhere to be found now..." Ribbon chimed in, causing Dedede to sigh.

"I had the Crystal Shards on me Ribbon, but Dark Matter has them in his possession now. He forced me to give them to him when I was possessed." Ribbon groaned and Meta Knight simply shook his head.

"Kirby," He faced him, "Do you remember how to wield the Star Rod?" The creampuff nodded, but both King Dedede and Rick stopped him.

"Meta Knight, weren't you just sayin' that this Star Rod sealed away this Nightmare creature?" Rick added, causing Meta Knight to facepalm.

"Ahh, of course! If Kirby were to grab the Star Rod from the Dream Fountain, then Nightmare would be released, and there'd be no telling what could happen if both he and Dark Matter were to combine forces." The room went silent, the only noise being the calming Spring Breeze and the soft crackling fire that was still ebbing in the fireplace. After a while, Adeleine exited the dome home and left to get some fresh air, away from the harsh tension. No one paid much attention to her besides Ribbon, who flew out the window to try and console her. Kirby saw her fly and wanted to restrict her, but he figured that since she'd been cooped up inside for so long, a break to go outside was necessary.

Adeleline saw her fairy companion hovering outside the door and met her by the tree right outside the house. She waved and Adeleine waved back, causing her to hover towards her slowly, sitting on the soft grass beside her. It was mostly quiet when the two were sitting outside, but Adeleine decided to break the silence by clearing her throat.

"I'm sorry—about the...you know. The stuff that happened in Apple Alps." Ribbon turned to her and shook her head.

"It's okay, I know you weren't trying to desert me. Besides, I found Kirby thanks to you, so it was a win-win situation." She chuckled, "He actually saved me and took me home. Nursed me back to health, took care of me...all of it! You know, he's dreamy when he's so protective."

"Bandana Dee acts the same way if you're hurt." She laughed, "It's always, 'Are you okay? I can make sure that you're okay. Are you hungry, I'm not hungry, but if you are then we can eat something together.' And I wouldn't have it any other way." She blushed, causing Ribbon to coo.

"Did something happen while I was gone?~" She teased, causing Adeleine's blush to grow bigger.

"Uhh no. Of course not."

"Something happened!" She started hovering in her friend's face, completely enamored in the conversation, "I'm willing to bet at least twenty Maxim Tomatoes, that both you and him ki—" She was caught underneath Adeleine's beret and the painter sighed to herself. There were muffled grunts and groans from inside the hat, but Adeleine could tell she knew it was in good fun. After a minute or two of struggling and floundering, Ribbon finally broke free from her stylish prison and nodded to herself. "I knew it!" She pointed a tiny finger at the girl. Both Adeleine and Ribbon began laughing the day away with their constant teasing and taunting, which reassured Adeleine that all was forgiven.

.o.o.o.

"So, this is our plan." After calling the two girls back inside the house, with careful consideration from all fronts, the Dreamland Quartet and faithful Animal Buddy devised a plan that they could all agree on. Bandana Dee, spearheaded the idea, thanks to the constant bickering between his two heroes, and Kirby not making an effort to stop them. "What we decided is that Me, Rick, and The Great King will both take out any existing forms of Dark Matter on Popstar. If anyone else we know that could be a threat is possessed, we have to focus on curing them, before they also become an issue."

"And then, Meta Knight'll patrol the skies with his ship. Since Dedede said that he remembered being taken up to the clouds, it makes sense that Dark Matter has to be above the skies in Popstar." Rick added, resulting from a curt nod from the knight.

"And Adeleine, you'll be coming with me as a part of our training. I know your hand may have healed by now, but I've seen you go to great lengths to wield a Parasol and defend yourself. I expect nothing, but your full cooperation and attention as we train." The painter nodded but internally whined knowing the amount of suffering she was going to have to endure from training with the knight. "And Kirby will also be patrolling Popstar, but he'll be gathering more Copy Abilities to use in case things go awry." Kirby nodded and smiled, determined to help his friends on their adventure.

"In the next couple of days, we come back to Pinky's house and report our findin's. Then everything's good, we'll all go in the Halberd and see if Meta Knight found where Dark Matter is hiding." Dedede chimed in, feeling that he had to contribute to the conversation. "Simple plan, execution might be rough, but I know we're all good at this kind of stuff."

"Don't turn confidence into arrogance King Dedede." Meta Knight warned him, causing the ruler to glare at him.

"I'm not arrogant!" Kirby stifled a laugh. King Dedede turned to him and Kirby cleared his throat, not wanting to get into the altercation, "You got somethin' to say to me creampuff?" Kirby shook his head repeatedly, but Ribbon flew in front of him, covering his pink body with her tiny arms.

"Hey, don't insult Kirby!" King Dedede frowned at the fairy.

"I wasn't insultin' him! He was insulting me!" King Dedede pointed his gloved hand at himself, causing Ribbon to sigh. "But my point was—before I was rudely interrupted." Ribbon ignored his last statement, "We've got our plan, anyone got any questions?" The room was silent and it seemed like everyone had their objectives.

And with that, everyone got into their groups and began heading off in opposite directions. Meta Knight and Adeleine, heading towards Starfruit Shoals, Kirby and Ribbon adventuring towards Flooded Figs, and Rick, Dedede, and Bandana Dee making their way to Celery Meadows to talk to any of the local residents in case there were any signs of trouble spotted. Everyone had their job to do and it was up to them to make sure Popstar was in safe hands.

Chapter Text

Adeleine stared at the Halberd. Its docking port was in Orange Ocean, where it originally crashed all those years ago, and Meta Knight managed to get a nice docking point near the famous Sunset Seas. Adeleine herself had never visited this spot in Popstar, but it was so serene, that if she weren't going to be training, she wanted to pull out her canvas and go to town with a gorgeous landscape piece. "Painter." Meta Knight addressed her, slightly amused with how awestruck she seemed. "Leave the docking bay," she snapped back to reality and boarded the aircraft, slowly ascending from the ground.

She looked around the ship and it's metallic and cold interior. It was certainly a battleship, there was no mistaking it.

Meta Knight quickly headed towards the cockpit and started taking over Capitan Vul, who was manning the ship for the time. "It's good to see ya back in action, Lord Meta Knight." The knight simply nodded to his avian companion. "All systems are good to go, our defenses are also armed and ready in case of anything invading the skies."

"Thank you Capitan, you always make these voyages easier for all of us. You may head back to your quarters." Vul saluted and obeyed the masked warrior, avoiding the unfamiliar face that followed after Meta Knight.

As Adeleine stood next to a Waddle Dee, she looked at the ocean slowly fading away from sight as the Halberd took off at a steady speed. "I've always seen this ship in the sky, but I've never boarded it before," she absentmindedly said to herself.

"This is the Halberd!" The little Waddle Dee spoke up, noticing her presence. "It's home to all of Meta Knight and his uh...Meta Knights." She chuckled. "It's been a long time since we've flown, not since Kirby fused the ship with his robobot armor, so it's nice to see the old girl up in the air and with no issues!"

"Sailor Dee, please understand this is supposed to be taken seriously." Meta Knight started scolding her, "This is a dangerous mission. We're looking for a threat in the sky, so I expect you to keep watch of the deck and cockpit while we reach cruising altitude." She saluted sadly.

"Sorry, Sir. Won't happen again, Sir." Meta Knight paused, before giving her another command.

"At ease, soldier."

.o.o.o.

CLANG-CLANG-CLANK-SHINK!

Adeleine was getting pushed to her limit as she parried another of Meta Knight's flurry attacks. She was starting to get better with her dexterity, but it was still a pain to keep up with the knight anytime her string of blocks wasn't up to his already high standards. So high, they made Kracko blush. Meta Knight sheathed the Galaxia with a satisfied rattle in his throat.

"You're improving rapidly, but don't get too comfortable, I'm going easy on you." Adeleine was panting like a sweating dog, but she was enjoying the practice a lot more than she would've expected. Her old Parasol was slightly heavy to hold and not as strong as the current one that she's wielding now. She knows for sure, if she fought Meta Knight with her older Parasol, it would've sliced into seventeen different chunks. "Now, Blade Knight." He drew his blade and readed quickly, "You're to fight Adeleine and I want it to not be one-sided. Do not fail me." Blade Knight looked at Adeleine and bowed.

"Hello, maiden! We shall now engage in combat! Draw your Parasol, when ready." She flipped open her Parasol shield and without a second thought, the two of them started a rowdy, yet graceful fight, exchanging parries and blows at each other with their respective weapons. Blade Knight used a sweeping cut against Adeleine's Parasol, nearly knocking it out of her hands, but Adeleine was able to grab the fleeting handle in time. With this split-second opportunity, she kicked Blade Knight, causing him to stagger a few steps back, before preparing to Parasol Drill into him, starts starting to form as the weapon shined brightly and caused the sword-wielding adversary to no longer, be sword-wielding.

There were a few claps, including some from Blade Knight himself, slightly astonished by how swiftly he was defeated. "Aye! Well done Adeleine, you did an excellent job." He went over to pick up his sword before nodding at the young fighter. "Who would've thought that you'd be this strong with a Parasol of all things."

"I wanted to stop relying on my art so I could save my friends, but because of my hand getting bruised, now I can use both of my hands kinda well!" Meta Knight hummed at her comment, causing her to turn to him. She immediately had a feeling of what he was going to say.

"So you think your right hand has fully healed?" Heck.

"W-Well not fully healed, but it's starting to get its strength back," she attempted to backpedal quickly, to little success.

"I believe that the best course of action is for you to practice on both hands."

"But Meta Knight," she started to whine, but the Knight was having it.

"No buts, painter. If you want to excel as a warrior then you must—" Sailor Dee practically flew into the barracks, slamming one of the doors open.

"Everyone! Come quick! There's these...things! They're black and yellow and have these big ol' eyes and they're attacking the Halberd. Several of them went through the ducts and—!" She got knocked back further into the barracks room by a powerful wave of dark energy, causing her to plant into the wall behind everyone revealing several dark orbs flying into the room and cornering everyone.

"Dark Matter!" Meta Knight said, on high alert, already preparing a Skyward Slash for one of the dark spheres rapidly approaching him. He performed it perfectly, a golden shimmer of light slicing through several of the threats and dispelling them immediately. Sailor Dee started coughing violently, as both Blade and Sword Knight helped her up.

"T-They must've gone through the ship's cooling vents! They attacked me so suddenly, I-"

"Sword Knight, come with me. Blade Knight, Adeleine, I want you to protect Sailor Dee and make sure no other forms of Dark Matter make it to the barracks." The two of them nodded, but Captian Vul quickly ran into the barracks, spotting Meta Knight and several other members inside.

"Lord Meta Knight! There's—there's so many of them outside!"

"Lower turbulence and make an emergency landing! We've invaded their territory." So that's where you've been hiding.

"We're right over the water!"

Of course..."Where are we regionally?" The bird rubbed his head.

"I'm not sure, but I know we're somewhere below Bubbly Clouds, but hundreds of miles past Orange Ocean. If I were to assume...we might be in the Grape Garden domain."

"Grape Garden, you say?" Meta Knight thought to himself before shaking his head, "It may be risky, but I want you to land us in the water. If we can avoid them and prepare a large enough blast with our Combo Cannon, we can shoot them out of the sky, but first, we need to assemble everyone to our location."

Adeleine spoke up, "I know what to do!" As she took out her canvas, she painted a blocky pink cellphone, it popped from the canvas and loudly clattered on the floor. "I'll call Kirby to assymble the others, while you guys go ahead and attack any other invaders in the ship." With their orders, everyone fled the barracks, Adeleine and Blade Knight still watching over Sailor Dee. She started calling Kirby and thankfully he picked up.

"Poyo?"

"Kirby! It's me! You gotta get everyone to Grape Garden as soon as possible!"

"Oh!"

"We've found where Dark Matter has been lurking and he's in the clouds of Grape Garden, that explains why Dedede got taken up through the clouds!" She deduced as she waited for Kirby's response on the other line. "Where are you right now?"

"Uhh...p-poyo?"

"What?"

"U-Up!" She shook her head.

"You're up? You're above us?"

"Yea!" Adeleine had relief wash over her body but had a jolt of shock when she heard another faint voice coming from the phone.

"Huh? Kirby, who are you talking to?" There was some brief ruffling, before another voice was on the line, "Hello? Who is this?"

"Ribbon?"

"Adeleine?"

The Halberd was able to make its landing completely submerged underwater and Ribbon and Kirby were able to locate Dedede, Bandana Dee, and Rick. Although four—Ribbon was so light that she barely affected the star—sharing a Warp Star was commonplace, Kirby had trouble piloting a Warp Star with this much weight. Dedede and Rick's heavy weight caused the ride to become shaky and bumpy. But eventually, they were all able to land on the Halberd's bay and could see the looming threat of Dark Matter in the Grape Garden skies. Kirby let out a massive gasp as he saw a cloud of almost pure black absorb the country he loved to take naps in.

Meta Knight and Captian Vul greeted everyone aboard and it was only minutes later that everyone was in a conference room discussing further plans.

"So," Meta Knight began, adjusting his slightly ajar mask, "The Meta Knights and I were able to defeat the treats on the ship themselves, but there's of course the threat in the sky we need to focus on."

"The Great King, Rick, and I were exploring Rasin Ruins until Kirby scouted us out on his Warp Star. We didn't get very far, but we doubt there's been any dark influence anywhere." I hope...

"And Kirby and I were in Cloudy Park." Kirby nodded pointing to both himself, now being a rich emerald, and donning the Spark Copy Ability hat. "We found a pack of Sparkies and that was one of the last abilities Kirby was missing." Meta Knight nodded.

"Ever since being submerged in the Secret Sea, the Halberd has had hundreds of alterations to help it survive underwater." Vul expressed, slightly full of himself and his craftsmanship, "We weren't knocked out of the sky, but we've almost had a close call. If they were able to destroy the Core Reactor, we would've been in deep trouble..."

"But we were able to vanquish those demons! Thankfully, no one seemed mortally wounded," Sword Knight added. "Lord Meta Knight and I were talking about releasing the Combo Cannon to shoot the Dark Matter clouds out of the sky!"

Everyone pondered for a second, before King Dedede spoke up, "The Combo Cannon's shells are too slow! And the laser cannon isn't wide enough to deal with those clouds!"

"King Dedede-" Meta Knight attempted to interject, but he only got interrupted.

"No no, listen to me!" He slammed his hand on the table causing everyone to think to interject or provide their insight to silence. "Here's an idea. What if we shoot Kirby out of the Combo Cannon's main turret...and then Pinky will use one of the Copy Abilities he got, maybe Tornado or Spark, to defeat the cloud of Dark Matter blocking our path to the skies and THEN we take the Halberd and take out the true culprit once and for all!" Everyone glanced at each other, then back at King Dedede, then at Meta Knight.

"..." He shook his head defatedly, "I can't refute King Dedede's plan." The King smiled slyly, proud to prove to everyone why he was Dreamland's monarch. "Kirby, gather your best Copy Ability and we'll set forth with this plan at once." The pink puff nodded and discarded the Spark Copy Ability, taking off the crown, it losing its electric properties and Kirby losing his bright green sheen. He stared at the crown longingly, trying to come up with an idea. He could see his own reflection in the sapphire that rested in the middle of the crown before knowing what he had to do, even if he was going to kick himself for it later.

Kirby pointed out towards the door and sprinted, hopping onto his Warp Star, Ribbon close behind him.

His ride with Ribbon was silent. Kirby kept the same straight face he had once being told it was a job he had to do. With a long sigh, he had finally 'spoken' within the past ten minutes of them riding. Ribbon decided to pry, slightly trying to understand her friend's feelings. "Kirby? What's the matter?" He shook his head and patted her head, attempting to reassure her. "...Do you know which ability you're going to take?" She paused, hoping for a reaction, but continued when she realized she wasn't going to get one, "There's Tornado that Dedede mentioned! You've also got Fighter! Oh! And Hammer too!" She trailed off.

Within almost a blink of an eye, Kirby landed the Warp Star and ran inside his dome-shaped home, the strawberry-haired fairy opting to stay on the Warp Star. It was a fast in-n-out job for Kirby. He went into his Copy Ability Wardrobe and sighed for the last time. The things I do for Popstar...he lamented to himself, before inhaling all of the hats, weapons, and headdresses, alike, and lastly shoving the Spark crown into his mouth. With a massive gulp, he spun into the air. All of the abilities he gathered, combined into one explosive ability.

Everyone was waiting anxiously in the conference room. Adeleine was especially anxious, as she was rarely at the forefront of operations. If Kirby was successful, she, Kirby, King Dedede, Bandana Dee, and Meta Knight would have to face Zero head-on. She had the other heroes to fall back on, but there was no way that she was nearly strong enough to even put a dent into Zero's defenses, let alone Dark Matter. But her anxieties were made worse when Kirby and Ribbon finally walked into the conference room, Kirby donning the same Ability Cap she had first seen a few days ago.

Meta Knight hummed to himself and wordlessly, dropped from his chair, leading Kirby and the others to the Core Reactor.

Kirby was inside of the Combo Cannon, Ribbon by his aid the whole time, saying words of encouragement. Something he graciously appreciated, even if his expression didn't show it. "A-And be safe...please." He nodded. "I really do like you, Kirby." She hesitated, slightly afraid this might be the last time she'd ever see him again. She flies further into the cannon to kiss Kirby on the cheek.

"Me too." He said as clearly as he could, finally joyful for the first time in days. Ribbon flew out of the chamber and Meta Knight looked at both Sword Knight and Sailor Dee. Sword Knight was finishing the last preparations of aiming the Combo Cannon—thanks to Vul's coordinates—while Sailor Dee was at the control deck, trying to warm up the cannon and increase the power level.

"Okay Kirby," She said cautiously, as she continued fiddling with the buttons, "The cannon is going to fire in about a minute. And it gets REALLY hot when it's about to fire. You might feel an intense heat on your body, so I'm just warning you now."

"YAH!" Kirby yelled in affirmation, the barrels echoing his voice.

"Sword, is the cannon aimed at the right coordinates?"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Sir Meta Knight, open the chambers!" He and Vul obeyed the Waddle Dee, opening the deck, and raising the platform from inside the Halberd to on top of the waters. The Dark Cloud was ominously hovering above them, invading more of Grape Garden as the seconds ticked by. Many of the sky-high mountains and carelessly floating blimps were crashed or destroyed during the takeover. Kirby grimaced as he could start to feel the burning sensation, the corporal Waddle Dee was alluding to.

"Ready for fire!" Meta Knight exclaimed, causing Kirby to brace for impact and curl into himself. Five...four...three...two...one...

KA-KABOOM BLAST!

Kirby was launched thousands of feet into the air, spinning and twirling against the frigid winds beating him in the face and arms. As he continued his ascent, he could spot the looming Dark Matter Clouds and braced for impact. With a poof he was in the very center, seeing hundreds of bloodshot eyes glaring into him, attempting to take hold of him. But the young warrior's heart was too pure to get corrupted. 'I really do like you Kirby' kept repeating in his head and subconsciously touched his kissed cheek. But now wasn't the time for sentiments. He had something he had to do. Instead of plummeting back, Kirby rose into the air and let his hands rest at his sides before glowing an eerie white, many of the dark eyes and starry clouds gathering around him and swirling into a star-shaped pattern. He clenched his fists, opened his eyes, and exhaled. Everything turned white around him, and he could feel himself become light. But the burning sensation he felt in the cannon couldn't hold a candle to what he was feeling now.

Silence...
And then.

BOOM!

BANG!

CRASH!

The Dark Matter Cloud was totally obliterated. Kirby could hear all of the eyes groaning in pain, before getting wiped out. He gave a small satisfied smile before groaning and falling backward and landing into the water.

"KIRBY!" Ribbon yelled at the top of her lungs, witnessing Kirby plummet into the water, a loud splash following. Meta Knight saw her slowly fly towards Kirby as he was stirring in the water. He looked up and could see the massive cloud of Dark Matter no more. The only thing to do now was to finally put an end to Zero. After dealing with all of his grunts, now they can venture into the greater galaxy outside of Popstar and put an end to this.

After Ribbon carefully hauled Kirby onto the Combo Cannon's raised platform, both Sword Knight and Sailor Dee celebrated. "Kirby did it! His supernova explosion expelled the darkness!" She yelled, slightly naive to the fact that there was still the threat of Zero to deal with. Meta Knight was going to correct her, but the little victories would keep our morale up. He glanced at Ribbon giving Kirby a warm embrace, he cuddled her close, but Meta Knight could tell that the young warrior was weak.

"Sword Knight, could you prepare a room in the barracks for Kirby? I think he's deserved a rest." Sword Knight saluted and did just that, hitting the button to lower the Combo Cannon's deck back into the partially submerged ship. Meta Knight walked over to the pink couple on the other side of the small deck. "Kirby," his voice the warmest Kirby's ever heard. "You are unable to fight in this condition." He rested a hand on the injured puffball's shoulder. "But thank you." He sounded as if he were smiling. Kirby smiled back and closed his eyes, causing Ribbon to get slightly more concerned.

"Meta Knight! What's wrong with him?!"

"He performed a supernova in the sky, using all of the Copy Abilities he's gathered. He's burnt out, quite figuratively and literally. I suggest you take care of him, Fairy." The dock had finally made it to the Core Reactor, where everyone else stood in the heart of the Halberd.

"So..." King Dedede said, his attention shifted towards Kirby who looked obviously hurt. "Did it go well?" Meta Knight walked past him.

"Everyone, Sword Knight will assign you to a room in the barracks. Kirby did his job well and the Dark Clouds have been defeated. Tomorrow we're going into the Gamble Galaxy." King Dedede nodded and grabbed Bandana Dee with him, Adeleine and Rick closely trailing.

"We need all the rest we can get for something like this..." Bandana Dee said to no one in particular.

"If anyone needs food, I'm more than willing to paint anyone anything."

"No need for that, maiden. We have our own kitchen staff, plus you should probably rest your hands for tomorrow." Blade Knight reassured her with an added pat on her back. Even though the gesture was innocent enough, she had been reminded of the major battle taking place.

.o.o.o.

Adeleine was in her own room and she was wistfully gazing at her window—not like there was anything spectacular since the ship was still partially submerged, she saw nothing but the sea and dark sky—it was comforting to her, but that was the only thing she was doing for the past hour or so. She had been advised not to paint, so she hadn't, but she was looking at the cherry parasol that was sitting on her nightstand harmlessly.

It had to have been ten or eleven and she couldn't get a wink of sleep. It wasn't until she heard a faint knock on her door that she had finally stopped looking out of the window. She felt the blood rushing through her legs as she hopped from her slightly uncomfortable bed and opened the door to be greeted by her companion. "What are you doing?" She asked, not realizing how aggressive it initially sounded.

"The Great King sleeps so...loudly..." He said shaking his head, "It's fine when I'm just as tired as he is, but I can't-"

"Go to sleep?" She finished his sentence, causing him to nod exasperatedly, "Come in, we can share the bed. It's big enough for the two of us."

He shuffled inside her room, slightly sleep-deprived, hopping into the bed. Adeleine joined him quickly and they both got underneath the shabby covers. It was silent, but Adeleine could still sense the Bandana Dee felt more than restless. Something about his composure, the way he moved over to the covers without so much hesitation. "Something's wrong." Her mouth filled in the rest of her thoughts, causing Bandana Dee to shift in the covers to face her. Even though it was dark, he could still make out her figure and ebon hair.

"Huh?" He said stupidly as if he didn't hear her.

"What's on your mind?" She corrected, having a softer tone of voice. "Well, besides the whole thing that's going to happen tomorrow."

"I hurt you..." He said softly, still ashamed of his actions.

"Waddle Dee, it's okay, it's practically healed by now." She chuckled, "Thanks to you, I can use both my hands to paint." He whined causing her to stifle another laugh. "But I appreciate you for caring."

"Of course, I care! I couldn't see you for days! I almost killed you when I was possessed! I just-" He flopped on the bed in frustration, causing the mattress to bounce slightly. "I just don't know anymore..."

"It's okay," she hushed him, holding him close to her. "I appreciate your company and your friendship. I appreciate you for caring. And thank you for being a great friend." She finished, continuing to hold his fluffy body like a pillow. Bandana Dee started to blush and only accepted the hug with a warm smile.

"I appreciate you too. Thanks for saving me."

"Thanks for saving me too."

They stayed like that for a while, till eventually, they both drifted into a peaceful slumber. Tomorrow was a do-or-die situation, so they needed all of the rest they could get.

Chapter Text

Tomorrow came dreadfully quick, the Halberd was still making its gradual accent towards the outer orbit of Popstar, leading to Gamble Galaxy. Kirby was glancing out of the window, slightly nostalgic for his many ventures into space. Of course, many of them always involved fighting or battling some grand creature or concept beyond his comprehension, but the many twinkling stars gave him the hope that had always filled his passion. Ribbon was asleep next to him, it was still early in the morning after all. Or was it? The sun was out, he could say that with complete confidence at least.

He hadn't fought Zero in what felt like decades. He originally had the help of the fairy sleeping right on his chest, but they were both out of commission. He had no qualms with his friends deciding to take the forefront and fight, but in the back of his mind, he was worried. Not the type of worry akin to fear, but an uneasy feeling. That, he needed to be there. At least to cheer everyone on.

A tiny rap woke the puffball from his thoughts and the door creaked open to reveal Meta Knight on the other side. "Huh?" He said quietly, hoping to not wake Ribbon. He squinted his eyes and could barely see him, the only thing illuminating the room being his golden eyes that could match even the brightest of stars.

"Kirby," he spoke with a hushed voice. "Are you okay?" Kirby nodded hoping that he'd be able to see his gesture and thankfully he did. "After you destroyed all of Dark Matter's lessers, you were passed out in your room for a while." Kirby had previously noted the several bandages adorned on his cheek and stubby limbs, he's used the Crash Copy Ability before, but he never exerted that much power whilst doing it. With a sad sigh and soft-hearted 'poyo', he was forced the be on the sidelines. Ribbon earlier had stopped him from trying to spar with Meta Knight to test his strength, he knew he would've lost anyway, but he just wanted to be there for his friends. "You did good Kirby, get some rest, it'll be over by the end of the day." He closed the door softly and Kirby gave a somber nod, returning to the window.

"He's right," Ribbon spoke sweetly, though her voice was slurred due to her fatigue. "You've done a lot for us Kirby, but we need to return the favor too—at least once." Kirby didn't turn to her but had a sad smile on his face. Not from her words, but because he could sense the looming threat of Dark Matter on the horizon. They were close.

.o.o.o.

Everyone was in the conference room while the Halberd was suspended in space. "We've made it to Gamble Galaxy," Meta Knight reported. "Zero is lying dormant in the center of the galaxy, just North of the dwarf planet 'Halfmoon'. It seems like he's lost his influence over Popstar since Kirby managed to destroy his lessers," he pondered for a moment. "Kirby, you've been on Halfmoon before haven't you?" He nodded slowly. "Here's the plan—find a Warpstar for us to use to take to him. But first, we'll land the Halberd on the planet."

"Okay!" He said, causing Ribbon to get cautious.

"I'll come with you." The Knight had a low hum in his throat before continuing.

"Once we land the Halberd, we'll take the Warpstar to Zero where, Me, King Dedede, Waddle Dee, and Adeleine will fight Zero. Sword, Blade, Sailor Dee, and Vul, we'll need you to stay on the ship in case of any intruders. Zero's crafty, so we have to be on the lookout." All of his men—and Sailor Dee—saluted, causing him to nod in confidence. "Good. Let's land on the planet and see what we can do from here." Captain Vul and Sailor Dee rushed back into the main cockpit and began directing the massive ship to land on the tiny dwarf planet.

It was a lush planet that had many twinkling stars in the sky, it'd take a while to find one that was specifically a Warpstar, but Kirby was determined. As the ship made its smooth landing, despite the slightly jagged terrain, a long railway jutted from the aircraft and Kirby ran out, as fast as his little feet could take him, hoping he could remember the first time he'd been here. Meta Knight watched as they both ran away, sensing Kirby's spark burning brighter than all of the star's galaxies. Maybe Kirby will feel more confident if he does this. The knight hummed to himself introspectively.

Kirby hadn't visited Halfmoon ever since the Sun and Moon were fighting with each other, in a way it felt like he had come full circle. One of his earliest galaxy-wide adventures, and this one coming to an end where it had originally all started. He had always heard rumors about this planet and how it was toured frequently for its large array of Warpstars, but as interesting as many people found them, only Kirby was the most skilled at flying them—when first exposed to them he used to often crash land falling flat onto his face, but he hadn't done that in years last he remembered. Most everyone that was going to be riding them wasn't as experienced, the only other Dream Lander he could say was as skilled as him riding Warpstars was oddly enough, King Dedede. Meta Knight always opted to fly using his wings wherever he went, and Bandana Dee...well...he snickers remembering the time he was teaching the Waddle Dee to use one of the unwieldy stars resulting in him crashing into Castle Dedede.

As Kirby, Ribbon on his head, was running through the small planet, he could see all of the Scarfies and Grizzos inhabiting the land. The Grizzos were of course sleeping, and the Scarfies seemed to be minding their business snacking on several of the pineapple-filled shrubs. In the distance, he could see a stray Warpstar being guarded by a rather large Grizzo, of course, he happened to be alert and protecting it.

Nothing has to be easy, he sighed making his way past the tropical landscape and hoping to not accidentally bother the denicines. "Kirby?" Ribbon asked as he started tiptoeing his way around the sleeping bears. "How are we going to get that one?" He sighed trying to find an answer. Grizzos weren't small. Sure he could always inhale them, but he was too tired to do so. Ribbon flew over to the bushel of pineapples the Scarfies began eating.

One of the Scarfies looked at the pink fairy oddly, "What are you?" It asked innocently, despite the question itself coming off as rude-natured. "I've never seen you before."

"Ah well, I'm a Crystal Fairy, I come from Ripple Star!" She glanced at the pineapple which was rendered to nothing but the pines, "Was it good?"

"Mm! Very!" It said beaming from the tangy sensation, "And yeah I think I've heard of that place, heard of a whole fiasco happening over there years ago."

"Heard about that?! From where?!" The Scarfy shook its body.

"Word gets around, Kirby helped, that's all I know. He helped our planet too a long time ago! But now I think there's trouble again..." Kirby turned once he heard his name mentioned and the Scarfy glanced at him. Kirby narrowed his eyes at the yellow figure causing it to nervously fly towards him. "Heyyyyy," he muttered, feeling the icy glance he was giving him. "Sorry I, mauled you back in the day, I saw you flying towards me and you looked like a pineapple so I-" Kirby shook his head, the memory of him finally getting the Beam Copy Ability Essence from Aquarius and getting brutally attacked the second he landed on the planet.

"You happen to really like pineapples huh?"

"They grow locally here and plus, they're really good!" Kirby nodded, he did try one of the pineapples that were grown around the area, they were pretty good. But letting bygones be bygones, Kirby smiled at the Scarfy but eventually cocked his head wondering what exactly the so-called trouble, was.

"So, anyway, what happened here? What's the trouble?" Ribbon asked, her curiosity piqued.

"Well, there's this big bear that's been terrorizing us Scarfies and the Bronto Burts." The Scarfy turned to face the massive Grizzo patrolling the Warpstar. "That big brute has been stealing the local food from the planet and hoarding it to himself!" Now where have I heard this before? The puffball thought to himself glancing at the massive Grizzo. They locked eyes and he glared at Kirby angrily.

"It's been torture for us," a stray Bronto Burt inserted herself in the conversation, flapping her wings quickly, "I haven't been able to eat in peace without one of his lackeys bothering me. I have a tear in my wing because of it, see?" She stopped flapping and landed on the ground showing Ribbon and Kirby the state of her wings, earning a wince from Ribbon. "The Scarfies and Brontos have been trying to come up with a solution, but we can't figure it out."

"So, could you please help us, Kirby?" The Scarfy added with desperation in his voice. Kirby nodded and patted his chest. Even if he wasn't going to be stopping Zero, he always had time to solve someone's problem no matter how insignificant it might've seemed. And with that, Kirby and Ribbon took to the skies, the harsh winds blowing them across the dark, night-filled sky. But as they were flying they bumped straight into a purple Scarfy causing them all to land flat on the ground.

The Scarfy looked in disbelief and started to transform, but Kirby started shaking his hands in defense. "No no no!" He said quickly trying to wrack his brain for a solution. Luckily, he did and he happened to be standing next to a pineapple bushel. He plucked the pineapple from the bush and held it as a peace offering. The Scarfy looked at him in confusion before jolting and flying away, abandoning its anger. "Poyo?" He asked watching it fly away. As he held the pineapple in his hands about to share with Ribbon it opened its eyes and started hopping around.

"Huh?!" Ribbon shouted flying away from the rambunctious fruit. "Kirby, look! I-It's moving!" She wasn't lying. The pineapple was startled and started to squirm out of Kirby's hands and shot a bomb at the Star Warrior. Being completely caught off guard, Kirby took the bomb with full force and launched into the sky, partially set ablaze by the bomb. With a violent cough, Kirby inhaled the militant pineapple and the other bombs it threw towards Ribbon. With this, he gained the Bomb Copy Ability causing Ribbon to look at him with sheer fear in her eyes. "Does every pineapple do that?" She fanned away the leftover smoke from the explosion and glanced at Kirby's wardrobe change. "Hey! You're armed now!"

Kirby glanced at himself and sure enough, he had the hat and everything. In fact, this was great! He could now show that Grizzo a thing or two, get that Warpstar, and head back to the Halberd! Kirby ran across the field, not bothering with the skies, and charged toward the Grizzo that's been staring at him dangerously. It was much larger than the others and was a dark velvety purple. With a loud roar, it charged towards Kirby, its eyes as black as voids. Is this...? He thought avoiding the senseless attack.

Kirby quickly started to throw explosives at the bear, causing it to growl ferociously and launch those very same bombs back with so much force it could make a Phan Phan blush. Kirby expertly dodged the explosions but had a feeling that he had to be a little more crafty with his fight, or else Halfmoon might be renamed to Quartermoon with the amount of destruction he was causing. The Grizzo stopped and stared at Kirby waiting for him to approach, but Kirby instead held his bomb carefully. The Grizzo began to roar impatiently and charge at Kirby, its mouth wide open. "Now!" He yelled to himself as he chucked a bomb straight into the bear's mouth causing it to erupt smoke from it's mouth. The bear now dazed, quickly had its brown fur return to itself while one of Dark Matter's looming eyes attempted to fly away. As it did though, Kirby swiftly chucked a bomb at it causing it to dissipate. With a nod, he had killed two Birdons with one Rocky.

"Yeah! Good job Kirby!" Ribbon hugged him, causing him to smile. But their celebration was cut short as the possessed Grizzo started to awaken and look at Kirby bashfully. It walked up to him and had its head hung in shame for its actions, but Kirby being the jolly fellow he is, gave him a pat on the head. "It's okay," Ribbon said warmly, "You were possessed, you weren't acting like yourself. I'm sure you didn't have any bad intentions." The fluffy bear shook his head and scampered away in cowardice leaving the Warpstar to themselves, behind them, a massive pile of pineapples and cherries. Kirby grabbed one of the pineapples and presented it to Ribbon who hesitated. "I'll pass on this one Kirby." Kirby had no qualms with this and downed the whole pineapple in one gulp. It was just as delicious as he remembered.

With a Warpstar secured on the Halberd's bay and Ribbon detailing Dark Matter's slight influence on this planet, Meta Knight nodded. It seems that his influence has been here too, but it doesn't seem like it was as bad as it was on Popstar. "He might've gone desperate, taking over the wildlife in hopes of potentially stopping us." The Knight inquired, glancing at Kirby with his Bomb Copy Ability Hat. "Get your rest, Kirby, you can leave this to us now." He unsheathed the Galaxia and nodded at the other members of the Dreamland Quartet, now including Adeleine who nervously gripped her Parasol.

King Dedede polished his hammer and glanced at it with pride, being the first to eagerly board the Warpstar. "If you tell me where to go, I'll get us to Zero in a flash!" Meta Knight also grabbed the Warpstar, and Bandana Dee clutched it carefully next to it. Lastly, Adeleine grabbed onto the Warpstar, carefully clinging to the chubby King, who didn't seem to mind.

"We'll keep the Halberd here on Halfmoon." He said mostly reassuring himself, as he then turned his sights to Dedede, "According to Vul, you should head south of here, which is in that direction!" He pointed confidently with his sword causing Dedede to nod curtly. And with that, the Warpstar slowly sputtered, before blasting off in a rainbow of color. Kirby smiled at his friends, but he could feel the pit in his stomach rising more and more the second they appeared from his sight. Ribbon rested a tiny reassuring hand on his cheek.

"Don't worry." She spoke warmly, "They'll destroy the darkness once and for all."

As Dedede sped off, everyone was silent. There wasn't much to say, they'd all been through this song and dance before. But the lack of a certain creampuff made everyone's breath hitch, and not just because they were in the cold vacuums of space. The Warpstar played its small twinklingly chime as it rushed its way through the Galaxy. Adeleine had very few chances to see the galaxy outside of pictures. She had seen the galaxy before from her second encounter with Dark Matter, but all she did was give Kirby some encouragement, a hug, and see him on his way. She gripped the weapon tighter as if it were to slip out of her hands at any moment. So many things had led to this point, but she never would've expected her to be right there with someone she considered her best friend, her older brother, and her harsh, but well-meaning mentor. She accidentally broke the silence with a sigh, causing Dedede to check on her with his peripheral.

The cold winds beat on everyone's face as Dedede went faster, now seeing the dark hazy cloud and an eye, the pupil blood-red staring at them. It had a look of...well it was hard to say—it certainly wasn't happy. Melochlony. Maybe...jealousy. The royal penguin slowed his travel just in case it were to send any lackeys, but it hadn't. That only worried him more. What's it doing...? He thought to himself, gripping the Warpstar carefully, his guard raised a thousand-fold. Both Meta Knight and Bandana Dee sensed the King's tension and automatically anticipated something. But what they hadn't expected was a massive meteor to strike them.

It struck the star, damaging it and causing everyone to lose their grip and drift frictionless in space. The Warpstar shattered into stardust and the massive ball of Dark Matter closed its eye. Everyone drew their weapons, already knowing what was happening next. Whether the meteorite was summoned by the being or not, it threw a wrench in their plans. King Dedede started paddling forward through space and completely smashed through one of the meteorites that was sent their way. It crumbled into pieces, but the force of the smash was so strong it sent him hurdling backward a few meters before he regained his balance.

As Dedede recovered and quickly made his way back to everyone, Meta Knight dropped his dimensional cape and brandished his sharp wings, ushering everyone to get on. King Dedede was the first to get on the small knight, Adeleine, and the speared Waddle Dee followed after. Dark Matter opened his bloodshot eye fully and thousands of these meteorites were sent in their direction, causing Dedede to prepare for a Hammer Flip. He readied himself, exhaled, and began rapidly swinging at each of the massive rocks flown their way. Unfortunately for them, that wasn't the only thing that was sent their way. Smaller Dark Matter clones started attacking them from all corners, causing Bandana Dee to quickly hack and slash each of them before they'd do any serious damage. If any one of them touched them, they would be possessed, and that would be grounds for retreating. But the skilled Waddle Dee began twirling his spear around Meta Knight almost as if it were a barrier. "Be careful!" He yelled loudly, but his voice was sucked into the vacuums of space.

Began to panic seeing all of the bloodshot eyes coming in their direction. She shielded herself, and King Dedede, opening up the Parasol as large as she could. But she wasn't focusing on the right person to save, Bandana Dee barely being able to fend for himself. King Dedede Hammer Flipped the last rock and Meta Knight—with everyone still riding him—was closing in on their target. They were meters away from him and the greater eye dissipated, revealing several hexagonal platforms, leading up to what looked like a pedestal revealing a particular swordsman. Meta Knight landed, causing everyone else to jump off of him. The armored Swordsman brandished his dark blade, the sun illuminating it and slashing the air, creating a horrible creaking noise, so loud, everyone could hear it thunderously tear through the vacuum.

Adeleine stepped in front of everyone and shielded them from the devastating blow, the Parasol keeping its shape despite the sharp slash.

Unfortunate...Dark Matter's voice rang in everyone's heads. Unfortunate that your...warrior...is out of commission. He got up from his polygonal throne and hovered towards everyone. You've brought a child to fight me. This is how desperate you are. He sent another slash their way, but Adeleine blocked it once again, straining from how tightly she was gripping the shield. And this is how weak you are, relying on said child to save you from my attacks. Bandana Dee perked up and threw his spear at the Swordsman causing his facemask to crack revealing a small dark eye, which was now frowning. Why you-!

"Don't call my friends weak!" He said, though no one could hear him.

He threw the remains of the mask at the Waddle Dee and disappeared behind him, slashing him with his blade. Bandana Dee—his bandana being sliced clean off his head—was wounded. Both Meta Knight and King Dedede began to attack the ominous figure causing him to also slash them. His sword beamed with a gleam of light. A light that they've all seen before. The Crystal Gun had been infused with his sword, causing his sword to become pure of light. However, due to his endless hatred and corruption, the jagged crystals were impure.

His sword launched several dark crystals at the ground, causing large pillars to jut from the ground. Meta Knight had the Galaxia knocked out of his hands, but King Dedede was able to land a clean hit to Dark Matter's jaw. Causing him to shake in pain and roar, giving everyone increasingly large headaches. Meta Knight grabbed his sword and followed up with his companion's attack, slashing Dark Matter's robe and revealing the large eye from the underside. Adeleine then jumped on top of the large hexagonal pillars and swung her Parasol at the demon's hands, causing him to lose his center and drop the sword on the floor. "Quick! Someone grab it!" She yelled, but even though her words fell upon deaf ears, everyone else had enough sense to try and wield the sword. But it only launched everyone away the second they got close to the blade. The King, the Knight, and the Waddle Dee were launched up into the air, while Dark Matter tried to recuperate and adjust himself. He wasn't fast enough, causing Adeleine to continue his relentless attack and Parasol Twirled into his eye, tears flowing from them. And with one more flip of her Parasol, she smacked Dark Matter so hard he fell onto the ground. Adeleine, now filled with pure rage slammed into his body causing him to groan loudly before completely disappearing into a cloud of dark smoke.

However, this wasn't the end, as the smoke began to enter the bodies of her friends. One by one, they all lifted up into the air, their eyes turning the same sickly charcoal of the monster she had just fallen. As she shielded herself from the rest of the clouds, her friends reemerged from the smoke, causing her to gasp incredulously and scamper away from them all trying to fight her. The Dark Blade slowly started to lose its dark luster, it now being thrust into the ground. She attempted to grab it but was halted by a massive red explosion to the right of her. What?

She glanced upwards and saw...him. There he was. He wore a creepy unassuming smile, before his "smile" turned into his eye, dripping with red. There he was. He had a halo over his head and his wings as majestic as they were large flapped Adeleine away, causing her to get blown away a few feet before landing back onto her feet, angrily snarling at the creature.

... It "spoke" glaring at Adeleine, before opening its massive eye and sending an explosion in her direction. She was caught off guard and was sent flying across the landscape, the once eerie black sky of eyes turning into a red hellscape of flashing colors. Adeleine's companions slowly floated towards the massive white eye. Goodbye. Just before she even had a chance to comprehend what happened to her, the only thing she could see was a flash of light that not only enveloped her but her friends. It launched them away, nearly into another dwarf planet, but Adeleine's Parasol flew out of her hands and got sliced in half. The Dark Sword that Dark Matter had used shined brilliantly, and sliced the Parasol in two.

She glanced at the Parasol, her one chance...and growled. "Not like this!" She pouted childishly, grabbing the split umbrella and bashing it against the sword in frustration. It had no longer blasted her backward, but what she didn't expect was the Parasol to become consumed by the Sword, it now shining a bright white. She shielded her eyes and witnessed a pure white Parasol with the Crystal Shard as it's pointed tip. She was launched directly upward and she could feel the positive energy and love from the Crystal Shards overwhelm her. Her companions loomed over her brandishing their weapons, but Adeleine grappled the Parasol and attempted to shield herself from all of their devastating blows, but the only thing she saw when she reopened her eyes and braced for impact was a white dome surrounding herself as everyone began to mindless bounce off of her, before getting launched away.

Painter...she remembered. You mustn't forget your greatest move...It almost sounded like Meta Knight, but with that, she knew what she had to do. She stopped hiding behind her shield, the Crystal Parasol's bubble bursting and emitting a light so blinding. With a soft inhale and her adjusting her smock, she angled her parasol downward and began to spin rapidly. She propelled herself downward, spinning so rapidly she could barely grip the Parasol, but she had to. "PARASOL DRILL!" She yelled to the heavens, her spinning so quickly, that she shattered the frictionless space and was sent careening down into the massive demon that only looked up at her in bewilderment. The Crystal point of the Parasol was the first to go through, while she continued her descent through the massive beast that towered over her. She went out through the other end, protected by the shield's bubble, and looked at the damage she caused. There was a massive gaping hole in Zero, he stood there, glancing at the hole before closing his eye slowly and shedding a single tear.

Friendship...it's a nice feeling...

Silence.
Silence...
Silence...

There was a white supernova coming from his hole before he imploded within himself and exploded causing Adeleine, Meta Knight, King Dedede, and Bandana Dee to get washed in white. Adeleine tiredly glanced at her friends before realizing that Bandana Dee was nowhere to be found. Due to his light body, the explosion sent him careening into a meteorite knocking him unconscious. All he could see in his mind was a white light before he started breathing easily again.

He fluttered his eyes open, unaware of where he was. He rose like a zombie and instinctively put his hand on his—indirectly also realizing his bandana was stripped from him once again. He was sitting on a log in the woods. These woods were familiar, it was Whispy's Woods even. It was dark and was glancing at his hands, they were bruised and bandaged. He quietly got up from his position and walked through the woods. He could hear the sounds of faint humming. Moving some of the shrubs, he could see her.

She turned softly and the subtle tear stains on her cheek stuck out to him like a sore thumb. "You're back!" She rushed him and picked him up into her arms giving him the most gentle and forceful hug he had ever experienced. She didn't let him go—not like he wanted her to. He glanced at the ground and could see a small version of Adeleine and another Waddle Dee doing this same hug.

.o.o.o.

"...and you were knocked out because you hit that meteorite." She finished her story, softly kicking her legs as she told it. "Everyone was worried about you. None of the chefs had any access to something that could cure you out of your shock."

"How long was I gone for?" Adeleine sniffled.

"Around three days. Everyone went around asking for help, trying to see if anything could work. Kirby got the Doctor Copy Ability and treated your wounds." He glanced at his arms and noticed the bandages. "I...Well. I remembered that Rick had a Maxim Tomato on him, from when he saved Cloudy Park." She said bashfully, a blush coming to her face. "I begged him for it and he gave it to me and well..." The Waddle Dee only looked down at the ground and smiled. "I was so tired from running around on foot that I was hurt too." She paused for a moment, trying to keep her composure. She subconsciously turned around from the Waddle Dee, averting her gaze, "So...I...gave it to you."

"You didn't eat one yourself?" He said quickly.

"No! I did! I just...um...well. I did Face-to-Face." They both started to blush ferociously, the second time they had embarrassingly kissed each other to save the other's life. There was a bit of silence before eventually the two of them glanced at each other and started to laugh. For once they were able to do that and not have to worry about the looming threat of Dark Matter. Even though all of the trials and tribulations, Adeleine wasn't just an artist, and Waddle Dee wasn't just that—a Waddle Dee. They were warriors, they were equals. And most importantly, they were friends that believed in each other.

Popstar and the Galaxy were protected by the denizens of Dream Land. And both Adeleine and Bandana Waddle Dee could pat themselves on the back for not just world peace. But also...

A Good Deed.