In Times of Crisis

Chapter 1
A King and His People

(Uploaded on August 17, 2018)

Summary: As the Robobot crisis rages on, a king does his best to keep hope alive – for both himself and his people.

Notes: This fic takes place during the events of Kirby: Planet Robobot, sometime before Kirby encounters Susie in Overload Ocean. There are some light headcanons in play.

[Dedede]

Castle Dedede – Throne Room

This crisis just may be the greatest one Dream Land's—no, Pop Star's ever seen.

One of my trusty Waddle Dees and I were enjoying a nice game of chess – he was winning, in case you were curious – when this massive freaking mothership basically engulfed our entire freaking planet. It was the biggest thing I had ever seen – my jaw dropped about five tons just from looking at it! Kirby couldn't face off against it, even if he had the Starship or Landia ready!

And that's not even mentioning what those weird light bulb spires were doing to our poor land. Dream Land was just… being mechanized, forcibly transformed into something that went against all the laws of nature! My Waddle Dees and I tried to fight back with our cannons – as did Meta Knight with his Halberd – but a giant laser took down us both in one fell swoop.

Luckily, my castle was still mostly intact, but I really couldn't say the same for the rest of Dream Land. Those giant drills signified how much of a hold this massive abomination had on us, and I couldn't do a single thing to stop it.

Well, I would have gone out and tried a shot against whatever evil was against this myself. I mean, when all those bosses had resurfaced in Floralia stronger than ever – including Queen Sectonia, mind you – I was the one who went and thrashed them all, and that pesky false Dimensional Mirror for good measure. (Kirby was taking a well-deserved nap, if you were wondering where he was.) But that was because it wasn't Dream Land that was suffering under a threat – the People of the Sky aren't called that without a reason.

These invaders… Whoever or whatever they were, they were dangerous, and they most certainly did not like any of us. I've had many Dream Landers come over, some of them sporting electronic parts now, seeking refuge from the robots attacking literally everything and everyone. Being the King of Dream Land, I can't exactly say no to them – not like I would. I'm not the guy I was twenty years ago.

Since the big thing of doom only destroyed half of my castle, the other half was still functional as a living space – and that's not even mentioning my rather expansive basement. (What? All castles need a basement, you know. Both Peach and Bowser have one.) There was plenty of room to house all the refugees that came in seeking shelter.

And so here I was, sitting in my throne room, tapping my finger along the armrest in an attempt to relieve myself of my worries. "Waddle Dees, give me a report on everything that's going on," I commanded. Two Waddle Dees stood in front of my vision, a display monitor coming down to accompany their presentation.

"Great King, the situation in Dream Land is currently most dire," one of the Waddle Dees stated, a finger pointed toward the monitor. The screen was currently displaying an image of the gigantic base latching onto Pop Star. "We have determined that our invaders are from the corporation known as the Haltmann Works Company. We know not their goals, but they appear to express an interest in harvesting our planet's resources for some nefarious scheme."

The TV screen then switched to showing me images of several of Dream Land's provinces in succession. Each one I saw earned a deeper and deeper grimace on my face. "Every inch of our lands, from Vegetable Valley to White Wafers," the Dee said, "has been affected by the mechanization spires from the invaders. Our best analysts report that the mechanization is growing at a rapid pace, and stands to encompass the entirety of our planet in a very short time."

I didn't like the sound of that. How the heck were we supposed to live when our entire way of life is uprooted from the ground just like that? How callous are these invaders, anyway!?

"The damage being done to the environments are just as bad, too. The company is showing much disregard for the purity of the ecosystems, and we are reporting a massive upscale and plant deterioration and air pollution. Should this continue, Pop Star may suffer a similar fate to that of Shiver Star, Great King."

I remembered Shiver Star. That place was very thoroughly abandoned and sported a lot of the whole industrial motif that was going on here now. Creepily, all the factories there were still functioning, which giving off a very unsettling vibe. Bandana Dee – then just a regular Waddle Dee – was shivering almost the entire time we were there.

It's too bad this situation wasn't something more feasible for us to deal with – like a Dark Matter invasion or that yarn guy doing his weirdo thing again. And I never thought I'd see the day where I'd prefer a Dark Matter invasion over… this.

"Any news on our allies? You know, Kirby, Meta Knight, everyone?" I finally asked. I may not be in touch with as many friends as Kirby has, but it's still my duty as one of Kirby's closest companions to figure out everyone's status – especially with Kirby presumably off doing the whole 'save-the-world' thing.

The two Waddle Dees giving the reports looked seriously grim (which admittedly was a little impressive, seeing as how they don't have visible mouths). "Not good, Great King. We have little information on the status of many of our allies. None of us have seen Meta Knight since the Halberd went down near what the civilians are calling Gigabyte Grounds. The Animal Friends have presumably gone into hiding, but have reportedly been seen defending the territories where they reside in. Finally, Adeleine, Ribbon, and Gooey are currently MIA. None of our scouts, unfortunately, have managed to confirm their being alive and intact yet, so we can only assume the worst has happened."

I closed my eyes in frustration. Adeleine and Ribbon were two of my closest confidants, ever since we went on the Crystal Shard hunt. Even if we haven't spent as much time together as I liked, Kirby and I have always had a good time with them. To hear that they're missing – along with Gooey, another one of Kirby's friends…

…I didn't want to think about it.

Heck, I don't even know if Kirby knows about that yet.

Photographs of the Squeak Squad were soon exhibited on the monitor. Noticeably, they were doing a very good job fighting all the robots. The Dee continued, "We have managed to get into contact with the Squeak Squad, luckily. They too are housing their own group of refugees in their ship, and have been seen visibly fighting back against the Haltmann Works Company and even stealing plentiful amount of assets from them. We are currently trying to establish communications with them so that we may be able to collaborate resources."

"In addition," the photo on screen soon changed to the People of the Sky helping several Dream Landers up the Dreamstalk, "Floralia has been very kind in assisting with the evacuation of Dream Land. Taranza has stated that the kingdom is always happy to assist with our cause, and the guards have managed to prevent any of the robotic invaders from mechanizing Floralia as well."

"That's… better to hear," I replied, my face relaxing just a little bit. Don't get me wrong, I was still worried about Kirby and Dee and Adeleine, but at least we weren't alone in dealing with this crisis. "Any news on Bandana Dee?"

Bandana Dee had done an astonishing job helping out Kirby during the Dreamstalk misadventure two years ago, and he was all too eager to head out and do the same. He shared just as much worry over those who weren't able to avoid the mechanization invasion, and expressed an interest in hopefully saving them too.

"News has been scarce, but Bandana Dee has managed to steer clear of being robotized himself, Great King. We still have several refugees in the basement that are grateful for his services. With any luck, he and Kirby will be able to repel the invaders and restore Pop Star back to its former glory – but until then, all we can do is survive the best we can."

I nodded solemnly. I'm the King; I can't afford to show weakness at a time like this. I have to assist my people however I can, and the best way to do that is to give them shelter. This 'Haltmann Works Company' pisses me off, but I can't do anything about them right now.

"Keep me updated on the situation," I told the two Dees, getting off my chair. I pressed a few buttons on the armrest remote, letting the TV ascend back to its resting place. "I'm gonna go check on the refugees."

"Your wish is our command, Great King."

With that, we dispersed, a few Waddle Dee guards coming to my sides as I waltzed on over to the basement level. We passed by a few windows on the way, and I took another glimpse at what had befallen my poor Dream Land.

Light bulb fixtures were everywhere, contaminating literally everything they touched – from the grass, to the trees, and I think I could even hear a train going off in the distance. That wasn't even mentioning all the tubes littered throughout, acting as the cherry-on-top this disgusting sundae that my land had become. This place really does deserve the title of Patched Plains, I thought to myself.

I hoped that somehow, Kirby would be able to deal with this. That he'd, against all the odds, manage to stand triumphant over the Haltmann Works Company, and we'd no longer have to worry. But I don't know how long it'll be before that time manages to come. Come on, Kirby. You can do this. You haven't failed us yet.

There were a lot of Dream Landers huddled up in the castle. Some of them were physically alright, being merely rattled over the sudden change over Pop Star, but others weren't so lucky. So many had been touched by the Haltmann Works Company and forcibly been half-mechanized as a result. Nobody was safe – from civilians to mid-bosses and if my information is correct, bosses. (My scouts had reported Whispy Woods was missing. I don't know what to think about that.)

Every single one of them had a scared expression on their faces. Every single one of them were huddled together as if the other might disappear the next day. Every single one of their lives had been shattered by the effects of the mechanization, and I knew things were only going to get worse from here.

When I entered the room, I saw several pairs of eyes turn toward me – and their faces lit up in various degrees of relief. I reminded myself, This is what I'm fighting for. These are the guys who'll suffer if I don't protect them now.

I can't let them down. Not here, not ever.

It was a tall order, but so long as we managed to stay united, there was a chance we could come out of this intact.

"Mr. Dedede!" One of the Dream Landers – a kid Driblee from Onion Ocean – ran up to me, his face bright and full of happiness just upon seeing me. He was followed by a couple other Helpers as well, consisting of a Beetley and a Birdon. "Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?"

I forced a smile onto my face – gods, how do kids manage to do this so naturally at times like this? – and laughed heartily. "Of course I'm fine!" I declared loudly. "The Great King Dedede wouldn't fall to such insolent invaders, after all!"

"I told you he'd be fine!" the Birdon told her friends. "He's the perfect savior we need, but don't deserve!"

"Hey, you stole that from a movie, didn't you?" the Beetley accused.

"What? I thought it fit! It's a good movie, anyway!"

"Stop fighting, you two! Come on, Mr. Dedede!" The Driblee stared expectantly at me, his eyes glistening with delight and innocence. "Won't you come play with us?"

My smile became a little more natural. I couldn't be wound up forever. Dee and Adeleine and Ribbon… I know that they would be fine. They had plenty of experience fighting against so many of Dream Land's enemies – I trusted that they'd come back to us, to me, alive. And in the meantime, I could afford to spend some time letting these kids be a little happier. If there's a chance to make any of my people happier during this great crisis, I'll gladly take it.

It's what a good King does, after all.

"Alright, alright!" I replied proudly. "Lead the way, you three!"

Most Kirby games are all happy and jolly with the main villain only popping up sporadically to do things, but Planet Robobot mixes things up with the way it opens. The entirety of Dream Land is well and truly affected by what the Haltmann Works Company has set out to do, with both the land and the inhabitants patched over and mechanized without mercy. Even Meta Knight and King Dedede are taken down without any sort of real resistance, which is scary frightening and really hits home how much is at stake this time around – both locally and globally.

Given that this is quite possibly the biggest threat Pop Star has ever seen, it stands to reason that Kirby's friends would try their best to combat against this menace however they can. We may not see them on-screen with Kirby (for the most part), but there's a lot that can happen behind the scenes now.

I was going to make this a one-shot, but I think this will flow better as a three-shot instead. Here's hoping it turns out decently enough!

As has been seen with the post-2010 Kirby games, Dedede has noticeably become a lot nicer – and as such, I think that the Robobot crisis would showcase an excellent time for him to be acting like the true king of Dream Land. It's only natural that this type of invasion would frighten many of the Dream Landers – and the Haltmann Works Company is quite hostile in their dealings. Even with half of Castle Dedede wrecked, I don't think it's a stretch to assume that there's enough room to a large amount of people seeking shelter from the invasion.

As a side note, I love writing post-Character Development Dedede; opportunities to show off his more caring side are ones I'm happy to oblige in. Sadly, I couldn't show off any of his typical Dedede-like qualities on account of the serious situation he has to deal with.

Well, that's all for now. Stay tuned for Adeleine's piece!