Remember when I made a huge deal about how KToDR contained such huge spoilers? Well, this is why. If you're reading this, I'm pretty sure you know the plot of Kirby 64, but nevertheless, I'm presenting you with my retelling. There are already a few out there, but this one should shed some light on interesting things… anyway, what am I talking for? Get on with it!

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Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards

Chapter 1 - The Day the Darkness Came

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Ripple Star was a small, peaceful planet, located in the ring of Stars known as Dreamland, a place where a species of fairies lived and thrived, a place they could call home.

That was before the day the darkness came.

One moment, the town square had been filled with fairies flitting about in their usual business, and in the next the dark cloud ad covered the expanse of the sky, creeping over the blueness like a microscopic life form absorbing another. And destroying it.

Ribbon watched in horror as the sky completely blackened. What... what was going on? In all the books she'd read on Ripple Star's history... nothing like this had ever happened. She'd never seen anything like this black mass before.

Could it be for a special event? Yes, yes, it was possible... fairies had limited magical abilities, so it might just be an impromptu celebration the queen had scheduled... for something...

Ribbon cleared her head of these ridiculous thoughts. That was a completely 'stupid' idea. Why would she even think of something like that? The queen didn't like darkness, at least not on a scale this massive.

But then that still posed the question: what the heck was going on?

The pink haired fairy watched as all around her, her friends began to panic. There were shouts and yells from a gathering crowd, all of them pointing to the black expanse above.

"What's that?"

"What's happening?"

"Are we all gonna die?"

Ribbon didn't want to answer any of these questions at the moment, for the simple reason that she could not. Being one of the royal attendants meant she had access to the castle library, but even she, a bookworm, at times, had no idea what to make of the situation at hand.

She did, however, grasp the general idea of the other situation, meaning when dark tendrils started extending from the main cloud above and forming a fog that headed toward the ground surprisingly quickly, heading directly for the large group of fairies. Only one thought went through her head at that point: Fly. Fast.

And she did just that. For once in her life her wings seemed to be fully cooperating, and they fluttered madly to boost her away faster than her little legs could have ever hoped to carry her. She barely caught a horrific glimpse of the fog leaping up like a leopard and swallowing sole of her friends, but she kept going, with the fear that, if she stopped, it would undoubtedly catch up with her too.

She nearly ran into all the other panicking fairies as they frantically flitted about, but she paid no mind. She had a destination, a mission, one of the utmost importance.

She needed to make sure the queen was unharmed.

Ribbon practically darted through the castle gates, which were, fortunately, the slightest bit open, whether they were previously left that way or because the dark smog, which was now filling the air at an alarmingly fast pace, had forced them open.

Her muscles were tiring but she did not stop. She swiftly crossed the courtyard, reaching the main castle's doors in seconds flat. The moment she got there, she was forced to halt.

They were closed.

Ribbon landed briefly to rest her wings, putting a hand to her chin in thought. She couldn't simple heave the heavy wooden slabs open - even the queen's large, powerful guards needed a crank to do that. Taking a moment to think, she began tapping her foot on the ground impatiently, knowing the cloud behind her could start rushing toward her any second.

With a snap of her fingers, an idea came to her. Despite her wing muscles' protest, she took to the air again, flying up higher than she ever had before. On the top floor of the tall castle, there was a very, very small glassless window on the wall. It was located discreetly on left side of the building, and it could have be her only way in.

As she strained to lift herself higher and higher, she turned her head ever so slightly... and nearly forgot to flap when she saw what was happening in the town square.

It was almost entirely covered in the thick, black, poisonous-looking vapor, which now hung low over the ground like smoke from a raging wildfire. Fairies were flying around desperately, looking for a way out, but it seemed to trap them inside and slowly obscure all the light from their vision.

And for a brief second, Ribbon thought she saw a strange, golden eye gaze at her from the mass.

She shook her head and it was gone. Hurriedly dismissing it as her mind playing tricks on her, she continued her ascent. In seconds she reached the window. It was just big enough for her to fit through, so she snapped her wings down with surprising force before drawing them in as close as she could to her body and sailing through the small open space, landing on her stomach on the soft, red carpet inside.

She longed to just lay there and fall asleep - the darkness was weakening her, she could feel it. It took every bit of her willpower just to get up. But eventually, she managed to not only do that, but use her wings to propel her exhausted, pattering footsteps as well, giving her additional speed as she ran down the hallway as fast as she possibly could at this point.

The pink haired fairy checked all the rooms as she ran down the straight hallway, and yet there was no sign of the queen. Her face held a look of disbelief as she reached the end of the carpet. If the queen was not up here... she could be anywhere. It could take 'ages' to find her in this enormous castle, and that sort of time Ripple Star simply did not have.

"Ribbon!"

Ribbon whirled around at the sound of the hushed whisper, her disbelief even more apparent at the fact that the queen found her, when in fact she had been intending the opposite. Still, she pushed the thought down.

"Oh, there you are, my queen," she breathed with relief. "I thought I'd never find you in time."

The queen, who was peeking around the entrance to another hallway (Ribbon wondered why she hadn't checked down there), nodded hastily. "Yes. But there 'isn't' any time. Quickly, you must come with me." Her form disappeared around the corner. Ribbon wiped some sweat off her forehead before following at a slightly more sluggish pace.

The hallway she was being lead down turned into a spiral staircase, which spun upward and upward as far as anyone could see. The two fairies didn't focus on this as they climbed, the queen being too intent on reaching the top and Ribbon willing to follow her wherever she needed to go.

After what seemed like an hour, the pair exited the staircase and entered a small dome shaped room. Its smooth brick walls were painted a soothing cream color and supported light pink torch holders. The fires themselves burned an oddly calming green.

The middle of the room housed a metal and stone contraption in the shape of a disc. It covered a good portion of the floor and sported intricate markings on its sides. The center was indented and slightly bowl-like, and the edges glowed with an almost solid light, which suspended a single, giant crystal in the air.

Ribbon let out a short gasp. Even as one of the queen's attendants, she had never personally been in this room. Every fairy knew that the Power Crystal was what had provided Ripple Star with all its energy for generations, and she had seen many pictures of the legendary object, but never had she imagined it to be so... big. She had heard that it was definitely a large object, but now, looking at it up close, it was almost twice the size of the queen.

"Ribbon." Said queen's voice brought her out of her slight daze and back to attention. "Y-yes, my lady?"

The larger fairy's expression was solemn. "You are an intelligent fairy," she began seriously, pacing around the metal disk slowly. "I do not doubt that. So you will understand that anything regarding the Crystal at this point is of the utmost importance."

Ribbon gulped and nodded. "Of course, your highness."

The queen acknowledged this and continued slowly walking around the room. "I believe the darkness outside - whatever it may be - is after the Power Crystal."

Ribbon didn't want to believe those words. She knew full well that the Crystal was a thing of unrivaled arcane energy, passed down to fairy kind from ancient beings and sworn to be protected by the fairies. It had been coveted by others in the past, but kept safe from harm. Now, however, thinking back to the dark clouds outside once more, it didn't seem like such a stretch of the imagination to think that it was in serious danger.

"You really think so?"

The queen closed her eyes and nodded grimly, halting in her place. "That's what I fear. And it's why we can't waste another second here." She turned abruptly and forcefully. "Ribbon, you have to take the Crystal and leave Ripple Star."

The smaller fairy was stunned. "M-me?" she eventually stuttered out, eyes widening. "I-I couldn't possibly... there must be someone more qualified..."

"No, Ribbon. There is no one. Look." The spectacled fairy pointed up at the ceiling, where a funnel led up to a blue hatch. The multiple triangular panels slid out of the way to reveal a completely and utterly black sky, the dark fog hanging extremely low over the castle, as if trying to force its way in.

Ribbon gaped upward at the sight. "So... you're telling me... it got everyone else?"

"Exactly." The queen folded her hands and looked down at the ground, almost as if she was fighting an internal battle with herself. "That's why you, and only you, can take the Crystal to safety."

The pink haired fairy thought. What if she was unable to break through the haze? What if there was something lurking in there that nabbed her, or, even worse, the Crystal while she was trying to flee the planet? How would she flee the planet?

No... she had heard what the queen said. She realized that it was her duty to Ripple Star, the least she could do to save it...

With a sudden spurt of bravery, she nodded and said, "I'll do it."

The queen's expression softened with relief. "Oh... thank goodness... I'm glad you're willing to take this risk for all of us." She coughed and straightened her glasses. "Now hurry. You don't have any time to spare."

There was a sudden and extremely loud crash from outside, followed by the floor underneath them shaking fiercely. The queen, who was standing, stumbled as she tried to keep her balance.

Ribbon looked around briefly as small bits of hard dust fell from the ceiling. "But, your majesty, you have to come with me. You can't let them get to you too -"

The castle rumbled even louder, and the shaking caused the queen to trip. Fortunately, she caught herself and went to one knee instead, her wings aiding in the effort. "N-no! Again, there's no time! You have to go by yourself!" With one strong flap downward, she righted herself and took Ribbon's shoulders. "Leave me. I'll be fine. Right now, you have to go."

The smaller fairy looked like she wanted to protest, but her elder cut her off. "I know that as one of my handmaidens it is your duty to protect me, but you must do as I say here! Hang tightly to the Crystal, and take it to safety!"

Ribbon knew she had to give in, and she gave a short sigh. She hovered to the Crystal and gingerly placed one hand on its side. It looked as if it was made of ice, yet was warm and strangely inviting as a freshly washed blanket. She managed to place her other hand and her two legs on it as well, so she was sitting low to its glossy surface.

"My queen," she said, turning her head one last time, "please promise me you'll be careful."

The queen nodded sadly. "Everything will turn out fine eventually." A long violent tremor interrupted her soon after, worse than the others. As the walls of the room began to crack, she yelled, "Quickly! Up, up! And be safe!"

With the utmost determination, Ribbon obeyed. She clutched the Crystal tightly in her hands. She could feel it building up power inside. Suddenly, it shot up through the still open hatch like a rocket, taking her with it in a light speed ascent through the heavy dark cloud.

The mass seemed to shy away from the blazing trail of light the Crystal left behind, Ribbon noted. However, mere seconds after the moment they entered, they were out, floating high above the planet's atmosphere.

When she had thought what was down on the actual planet was bad, she was definitely not expecting to see what it would look like from space. Half of the heart-shaped face was covered in black smoke, which formed a sort of barrier around it as the force pulsated and wormed its way closer toward the ground.

"What would... no..." she whispered in horror. This shouldn't have been happening, this 'couldn't' have been... but, as the Crystal turned itself and soared out into space, putting up a light blue barrier that gave the fairy riding on the inside oxygen to breathe, she realized there was nothing she could do.

Another chanced glance backward moments later soon saved her life. She looked back in sorrow, which soon shifted to pure fear as three orbs of blackness broke off from the main body and began following her, gaining on her surprisingly fast. One after another, they split in the exact middle to reveal frightening golden eyeballs, the exact same kind Ribbon had seen in the square when she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her.

Now that was not the case. The eyes were real, and they were fast. They were not very far behind as the Crystal carried Ribbon into an asteroid belt full of fairy-sized rocks. Her method of transportation fortunately weaved in and out of the space debris as if it could see for itself. She looked back again as one of the black orbs slammed into - no, burst through - one of the chunks, shattering it by only doing so much as blinking.

So fast were the four traveling that they were out of the belt in seconds; however, the spheres now circled each other as they closed in on Ribbon. The Crystal automatically dodged a charging attack from the one on the top, but was unable to react in time when hit by a similar tackle from the one on the left.

With horror, Ribbon watched a long, ugly crack split down the Crystal's surface as it was sent reeling from the surprisingly powerful blow. It managed to get itself back on course, but it flickered from loss of energy and began losing speed fast. The light around it slowly faded, as did the oxygen barrier it created.

The fairy began to choke slightly from lack of breath as the spheres looked at each other, almost victoriously, before coordinating a final attack at a simultaneous spot. The combined strength of their hits shattered the Crystal upon impact. It scattered into dozens of pieces, sent flying across space by sheer force.

Ribbon managed to cling to but one Crystal shard as she was flung off in a different direction. Well... the orbs didn't seem to be interested in her anymore. They had gone off to look for other parts of the Crystal, apparently... the Crystal she had failed to protect. Nevertheless, she could barely bring herself to think these thoughts as fatigue and lack of oxygen started getting to her. Before she completely lost consciousness, she caught a glimpse of something big and yellow, something that seemed to be growing by the second. It looked like... a big star...

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Admittedly, this was a bit rushed at the end because I wanted to get it up by tonight, so sorry if it seems a bit lacking because of it. Still, this will be my most important story thus far, and I guarantee it will get much better. (Though you will be pleased to know that it does not mean my other stories are on hold.) Until next time, friends…