I got this idea after seeing the Space Pirates images, and was all like what Space Pirates. And it turns out they steal from constellations of all things, and the stage was set up like the Brawl Halberd stages. And that annoying shipper in me just will never go away and leave me alone.
Despite said shipper, I'll try to keep the pairings down, unless they feel necessary.
Spoilers for both Kirby's Return to Dreamland and Kid Icarus Uprising.
The fight with Magolor had tired out Kirby in several ways. It was not the first time Kirby had been so utterly tricked and betrayed by someone he considered a friend. The worst part about those betrayals was the fact that he could not make up with them. Kirby already made up with King Dedede several times, and even the mysterious and aloof Meta Knight eventually made peace with him. As far as he knew, Magolor and Marx would never come back. The pink puffball ended up sulking for a week. He didn't respond to Meta Knight's offers to spar, or Waddle Dee's requests to go fishing. He even turned down King Dedede's challenges to a Gourmet Race. It was truly serious.
That's when Meta Knight decided to bring out the big guns so to speak. He contacted everyone Kirby had befriended over the years to cheer him up. Rick, Coo, and Kine came first, followed closely by Nago, Chuchu, and Pitch. They all threw him a reunion party, which seemed to cheer him up quite a bit.
Next, the masked knight lent Kirby a magic mirror that allowed him to speak with his mirror counterpart. Hearing about the peace in the Mirror World brightened Kirby's spirit and renewed his hope. Unfortunately, Meta Knight cut the chat quickly when Shadow Kirby began to reveal the amount of times he forgot the magic mirror was not his usual one and how long he spent primping.
One day, an entire cake arrived for Dreamland's hero. Meta Knight managed to make contact with Daroach and the Squeak Squad. Although they were unable to come and visit, they sent the cake in hopes it would make Kirby happy again. He was so thrilled by the gesture, he almost ate the handwritten note.
As for the cherry topping, to Kirby's utter surprise and delight, Prince Fluff popped out of the magic sock, though he had trouble getting out of the drawers. Everything had been going swimmingly, and Kirby seemed to forget all about Magolor. He had been getting his way after so long, and was finally letting himself settle down once again…
So when the blue yarn boy complained about not dreaming his first night over, Kirby instantly panicked. One does not ever not have dreams in Dreamland. It was unheard of! There had to be something wrong. When Prince Fluff suggested they go sightseeing all of Dreamland's landmarks to get Kirby's mind off a seemingly trivial matter, the pink hero instantly remembered one of his adventures. Kirby raced to the Fountain of Dreams with Prince Fluff in tow, only to find everyone else surrounding it. They spotted King Dedede who was in the process of finding his jaw.
"What the hemline's going on?" the prince of Patchland demanded. Dedede could not answer, his jaw still hanging on by a few threads. Bandana Dee shut his jaw for him and pointed to the Fountain of Dreams.
The Star Rod was gone.
"This isn't good." The three jumped and spun around to see Meta Knight, his cape fluttering behind him as he approached.
"No stitch Sherlock!" Prince Fluff groaned. Golden eyes rolled around in the darkness of Meta Knight's visor.
"I don't mean about the Star Rod." The blue knight growled. "The Squeak Squad had to make an emergency landing on Popstar. They were attacked in deep space."
"Poyo!" Kirby gasped. "Where are they now!"
His question was answered when the Halberd landed close by Castle Dedede.
"I'm not letting those rats into my castle!" Dedede shouted, finally snapping his jaw in place.
"This is an emergency!"
"We have a bigger emergency here!"
"No Dedede. Daroach told me some disturbing news. The Star Rods from the other stars around us are gone too."
Word spread quickly and soon all of Popstar was hysterical. Residents of Dreamland clamored over to Castle Dedede to demand action from their King.
"Arg, what do they expect me to do!" Dedede moaned in frustration.
"To do your job." Meta Knight coughed, hiding his amusement.
"Ugh, now I know why I fired you!"
"I quit on my own accord."
"Poyo!" Kirby yelped, trying to get their attention.
"Here Kirby," Prince Fluff interrupted. "You do it like this." As Dedede was ready to shout at Meta Knight, the Patchlander whipped his arm around Dedede's mouth and pulled it shut. Only Bandana Dee seemed concerned by this action.
"Thank you your highness." Meta Knight said dryly. The yarn prince rolled his eyes.
"Look, this isn't just about Popstar." He said. "That Daroach guy said that the other Star Rods are gone, right?"
"I can only confirm the ones around us." The swordsman replied. "I'll see if I can get into contact with Ripple Star."
A soft groan caught their attention. Daroach had escaped the infirmary, a paw on his largest wound and the other against the wall for support. "No need to bother, the Power Crystal's fine, otherwise it would be even worse." The Squeak nearly collapsed at that next step. Kirby immediately rushed over to him, poyo-ing frantically.
"You should be in bed!" Prince Fluff cried. "Or you'll do more than just bust a seam."
"Who let this cat toy in here…"
"Who are you calling a cat toy!"
The young prince whipped Dedede away and immediately positioned himself to grab Daroach.
"That's enough!" Meta Knight roared. "Daroach, what is so important that you're ignoring doctors' orders to tell us?"
"I know who did it." The leader of the Squeak Squad grunted. "It was the Space Pirates."
Meta Knight was the only one who flinched at the news.
"What's a Space Pirate poyo?" Kirby wondered aloud. Prince Fluff shrugged while Dedede put a hand on his sore jaw in question.
"Space Pirates are nothing more than filthy thieves." Meta Knight hissed, the anger clear in his voice. "They don't just steal treasure; they steal the very power of stars and entire constellations."
"They sound scary…" Bandana Dee finally spoke up. "How do you know about them, Sir Meta Knight?" The knight merely pulled out his golden sword.
"Many years ago, they tried to claim Galaxia." He answered. "I still consider myself extremely lucky for beating them to her." Daroach seemed to perk up at the possible value of the sword, but shrank back at its owners glare. "If it were the Space Pirates who stole the Star Rods, then we must make haste and recover them before they get too far away from us."
"Why is that poyo?"
"Because if the Star Rods are too far from their Fountain of Dreams for a long time, they lose their power and their worlds slowly die in a cold, dreamless sleep. Shiver Star is facing that crisis right now."
"Then how the handstitch are you going to get them back?"
"We'll use the Halberd—"
"I hate to break it to you." Daroach interrupted. "But unless we suddenly got a dimensional cutting device, none of our ships will catch them. There's a snowball's chance in Hotbeat the pixies on Ripple Star are going to lend you the Power Crystal right now."
The room suddenly became quiet. Even Meta Knight was lost in thought.
"Umm…" Bandana Dee suddenly spoke up. "What about the Lor Starcutter?"
"The Lor Starcutter?" Prince Fluff parroted. "What the felt is that?"
"It's a big ol' ship that can do just that." Dedede explained. "That jerk Magolor had us repair it so he could take over the worlds."
"But it's free from his control!" the spear wielding Waddle Dee added. "It's got a mind of its own. It's so cool."
"Unfortunately, it must have returned to Halcandra with Landia." Meta Knight sighed. "We have no way of getting it, unless…" He snapped his fingers. "Nova."
"A clockwork star?" Daroach blurted. "That would be an easy fix, but you're not going to get the energy to summon that thing."
"I know that!" the blue puffball snapped. "But Magolor told us something very interesting when we gathered all of the Energy Spheres for the Lor." He glanced at Kirby, Waddle Dee, and Dedede to jump to the same conclusion. To his disappointment, they stared at him in confusion. "…He said that the construction of the Lor gave rise to the clockwork stars and items that bring dreams to life. He was talking about Nova and the Star Rods!" He gestured dramatically at Daroach. "Even he knows what the clockwork stars are!"
"And?"
Meta Knight had to stop himself from banging his face against the floor. Instead, he brought his palm to the top of his head and sighed loudly.
"Fine. Do what you wish. I'm going to do some research." With that, he threw his cape around himself and teleported away.
"…That guy's got a needle stuck in his buttonhole the size of his own ship."
After rummaging around through Meta Knight's things, Kirby and Prince Fluff finally located the magic mirror to talk to Shadow Kirby. After filling the black puffball in on the recent events, they waited his reply.
"Meta's just worried." Shadow Kirby finally said. "He loves Popstar as much as you do."
"He doesn't have to be a huge elitist jerk about it." Prince Fluff spat. Kirby gave him a disapproving look while his mirror self giggled.
"But that's what makes Meta Meta."
"Poyo… He said something about Nova and research… Do you know anything?"
Shadow Kirby paused to think. "Galactic Nova. That's the wish making comet, isn't it?" The pink puffball nodded in affirmation. "But Meta already knows how to summon Nova. He did it not too long ago."
"Hold the fold!" Prince Fluff exclaimed. "The old man summoned that thing already? What in Patchland could he have wished for?" The mirror Kirby shifted uncomfortably, a gesture that didn't go unnoticed by the brash young prince. "Out with it, Shades!"
"Meta wanted to fight the strongest warrior in the galaxy. After beating him, he… looked really happy, like he ate a big cake, and calmed down a lot."
"Galacta Knight…" Kirby whispered softly, recalling a vague memory of a masked warrior surrounded by feathers.
"That pompous git beat Galacta Knight!" Prince Fluff exclaimed in surprise. "The strongest warrior in the galaxy, across several dimensions? That Galacta Knight?" Shadow Kirby nodded.
"He is like Kirby and me." He explained. But before Shadow Kirby could elaborate, the door opened. Prince Fluff and Kirby turned around to see Meta Knight, glaring at them.
"I won't ask why you're here and why my room is a mess." He growled. "If you come with me without asking questions." The two intruders exchanged looks and quietly agreed to follow the knight. Prince Fluff literally pulled a zipper across his mouth to prevent himself from speaking while Kirby stuffed his mouth with an apple Meta Knight had lying around in his room. The caped swordsman led them outside and to an empty field.
"Kirby. I believe you have residual energies from Galactic Nova's core and from the other Fountain of Dreams resting within you. When you gathered extra energy during Dedede's so called revenge, you were able to summon a Starship to battle with Kabula, were you not?"
Kirby swallowed the apple. "I did poyo." He had forgotten all about that. "But what does that have to do with anything?"
"The stars responded to you when Kabula shot your Warpstar down. However, if you took those stars and concentrated, I wonder what would come out instead?" With a flourish of his cape, Meta Knight held up three glistening stars. They flew out of his hands, dancing in the air as they surrounded Kirby. "Now concentrate. Reach deep down within yourself. There is an energy that belongs to the Lor Starcutter. Seize it, and it shall respond to your call."
Kirby closed his eyes, feeling the warmth of the stars fill him with power. He saw a starry landscape paint the recesses of his mind. For all the people he met, there was a twinkling star filled with memories. Meta Knight's and Prince Fluff's stars were close by. He could see and feel the people associated with the different stars across the sky. There were stars for Dedede, Daroach, his animal friends, Gooey, Shadow Kirby, Ribbon, Adeleine, and many others. There were even stars for different objects he's encountered. Galaxia's star rotated around Meta Knight while the different metamortex patches orbited around Prince Fluff. He even recognized the star belonging to Popstar's Star Rod, though it was very faint and far away. He wanted to chase it, but he knew he had to look for another star. His search was abruptly halted when he bumped into something.
"READY.-" Kirby instantly recognized the tiny star as Nova. "I CANNOT GRANT WISHES… - BUT MAYBE I CAN HELP YOU FIND SOMETHING. -"
"Poyoo…" Kirby cooed. "I want to find the Lor Starcutter."
"OKAY. - 3… 2… 1… GO! -"
Before Kirby could poyo, Nova's star swung behind him and rammed him. He went flying far into the abyss, but felt a warm light. The three stars Meta Knight provided caught him and guided him to a familiar white and blue star.
"Lor Starcutter!" The puffball cried. "Please, come to us! I want to save everyone!"
At that moment, everything stood still. The star then slowly glided towards him, and just as it snuggly tucked itself under Kirby's hand, the starry sky disappeared. Instead, he saw Meta Knight and Prince Fluff peering at him.
"It's coming."
On cue, a star shaped portal materialized in the sky. The grand Lor Starcutter broke through and landed gracefully in front of the three.
"Holy swatch, that thing's amazing!" Prince Fluff gasped.
"She is a grand ship." Meta Knight admitted. "Capable of cutting through dimensions, the Lor Starcutter is the key to getting the Star Rods back."
"So it's going to fetch it for you guys?"
"That would be easy, poyo!"
"No. Someone will have to go. The Space Pirates will take her if she's unmanned. We'll need a crew."
Prince Fluff and Kirby exchanged a look. Knowing the scene earlier at the castle, that was going to take a while.
Prince Fluff's cloth pun curses are so fun.