Chapter 2: A Noble Endeavour

Ribbon didn't know how many hours had passed when she finally woke up (indeed, she didn't find out until later that she had been out for a whole day). It took a moment or two to register where she was. She eventually realised she was lying in a comfortable bed in a fairly spacious room which, after some thought, she determined to be some kind of medical bay. She was also the only person here presently which she considered a welcome blessing. She felt unbelievably tired but neither could she sleep; she had an awful lot of thinking to do.

Ripple Star had been engulfed by some force of darkness – had it been wholly covered by now? Was she the only inhabitant to escape from the planet during the assault? What was going to happen to the people there? They needed the Great Crystal but…

The Great Crystal had been broken.

All Ribbon could do was despair. Without the Great Crystal, she could not hope to lift the mysterious miasma and while it was possible to fix the Great Crystal with all its pieces gathered, how on earth was she supposed to find them all? They had likely been scattered on different planets within the Gamble Galaxy if they weren't floating about in space so to locate each and every one? It was impossible! She had been entrusted to protect the Great Crystal and she had instantly failed!

The Great Crystal will guide you. It will find someone to help you. How was it supposed to do that? What use was one single shard?

One shard…

Ribbon looked about and to her utmost relief, saw that whoever had carried her here had placed the shard on a bedside cabinet next to her. She picked it up and hugged it tightly. The idea that she had to find all the other shards was far easier said than done. She had no idea how the other Crystal Guardians would have gone about it or even if they had survived. With that in mind, the burden fell entirely to her even though she was a complete novice and lacking the necessary experience. But perhaps… the strangers here would help her. It was her only possible hope and an extremely faint one at that. If not…

Ribbon jumped when the door handle suddenly began to turn.

"Ah, lovely, you're awake."

Ribbon tensed a little as the peculiar creature floated towards her. It appeared to be a small, black blob wearing what could only be described as a capsule-shaped suit consisting of red metal at the bottom and transparent glass at the top. Its fingerless hands floated a little from the body and it lacked any kind of feet or legs, a trait Ribbon would soon find to be rather common amongst the many races here. Ribbon tried not to gape; what kind of planet had she crashed on?

"My name's Kemi and I will be your doctor today," the floating being continued. "How are you feeling, Miss Ribbon?"

"Um… OK, I guess, thank you," she replied, remembering her manners even in this strange environment. "How do you know my name?"

"Oh, Kirby told us. He carried you all the way here, you know."

"Kirby…" The name sounded familiar. "Wait, the pink boy?"

The doctor nodded approvingly. "Yes, lovely creature. He also said that you somehow fell from the sky?"

"Yes…" Ribbon whispered. Only the Crystal Shard could have protected her from that fall. This was all too much. "S-sorry, I don't know what this place is at all. I don't even know what planet this is…"

"Try not to distress yourself, my dear," Kemi said, seeing Ribbon start to well up. She handed Ribbon a box of tissues and poured a glass of water. "Well, for starters, have you heard of the planet Popstar?"

"I… I think so," Ribbon quavered. She tried to recall its position on the interstellar charts she had been examining during her training. "It's supposed to be a very beautiful planet."

"I can certainly agree with that. And yes, that means you're on Popstar."

"Popstar…" But that's surely light years away from Ripple Star! she thought. She took a shaky gulp of water to cover her shock and almost splashed herself.

"Now I don't know if there's any of us on your planet but I'm a Chemitory and as you can probably tell, anything medical-related is our natural profession. You'll see many different races on Popstar and in Dream Land, the kingdom we're in now, though the most numerous happen to be Cappies and Waddle Dees here."

Ribbon nodded, too dazed to speak.

"The building we're in now is the GSA Headquarters or the Galaxy Soldier Army to give its full name. Have you heard of it?"

"I heard Kirby mention it," Ribbon said doubtfully as if unsure of herself, "but I don't really know anything about it."

"Really? Well, the commanders will be most interested then. They will need to speak with you later in any case and inform you about how this organisation works."

No doubt they wanted to verify her story, Ribbon thought. No doubt they wanted to find out more about the Crystal Shard as well.

"You'll find out everything you need to know soon enough," said Kemi kindly. "Now if you don't mind, I'll need to carry out some routine examinations before I can declare you medically fit for later if that's OK. You were very lucky not to have been seriously injured in that fall of yours."

Ribbon wasn't exactly comfortable being administered to by a creature from a species she had never even heard of, let alone seen before but she let the doctor carry out her work and slowly she began to calm down seeing that she appeared to be in good hands.

But what are these commanders like? she couldn't help but think to herself. And what exactly is the Galaxy Soldier Army?

Once Kemi had deemed herself satisfied, declaring that there were no broken bones of any kind and barely even bruises to speak of, she ordered a meal to be brought in and soon a hearty stew was set before Ribbon. She didn't think that she could possibly be hungry until the smell hit her and she soon enough devoured the whole lot in evident enjoyment; there was no sense in starving one's self after all, particularly when the later meeting would require all of her attention. Kemi also advised that Ribbon try and get more sleep before she was called for, even if that was too soon in her professional opinion. Ribbon did try to sleep in the interim but unlike the food, she knew soon enough that it was impossible and while the doctor was in another room, presumably checking on other patients, she got up and began pacing up and down with the Crystal Shard in hand, quite unable to keep her trembling in check.

Before she knew it, there was a knock on the door.

Kemi came floating in and chose not to comment on Ribbon being out of bed. She opened the door to reveal a small figure dressed for some reason like a ninja although Ribbon was sure that ninjas didn't normally wear red.

Kemi sighed. "You haven't hit yourself with a shuriken again have you, Benikage?"

"Uhh, no ma'am!" Benikage squeaked. "I haven't done that in ages; I'm really a proper, proper ninja now. I'm just here to escort Miss Ribbon to the conference room. Um, that's if she's OK that is."

"Is this to see the commanders?" Kemi prompted.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sorry. Um, they want to talk to you about what happened and I don't know much more than that I'm afraid."

Ribbon looked at the Chemitory doctor expectantly who said, "If you're feeling fine enough, my dear, and since you don't appear to have any problems, I can discharge you."

Well, there was no point in hanging about. Ribbon nodded. "I'm ready. Um, thank you for your help, Doctor Kemi."

"Not a problem, that's what I'm here for, my dear."

Leaving the medical bay behind, Benikage led Ribbon through what appeared to be a labyrinthine path. For a headquarters though, Ribbon had to admit that it was surprisingly pleasant-looking with great care taken to spruce the place up with as much vibrant plant life as possible, the walls painted with a colour scheme pleasing to the eye and expansive windows in many sections designed to let in plenty of life, giving the interiors a brighter feel. There were many great pieces of art hung on the walls too, quite a few of which were signed with the name Adeleine. The air was clean, avoiding that uncomfortable stuffiness found in so many civic buildings and the carpets were soft to the touch and rather comfortable to walk on. True, by anyone's opinion, the headquarters' exterior was nothing to speak about but one did not advertise the organisation's actual purpose and so a plain office look on the outside would more than suffice any onlookers while the inside could be made as delightful as they all wished.

"Nice, isn't it?" said Benikage, seeing Ribbon looking here and there. "When you've been out on the field for hours, heck, even days at a time, you tend to want something nice to come back to. And since Dream Land's such a nice kingdom, we had to make this place nice, at least on the inside I guess. It's a bit out of the way I suppose but it's not too big a deal. And besides, if we didn't have it a little out of the way, Whispy Woods might have got upset with us."

Ribbon frowned. "Who's Whispy Woods?"

"He's like a guardian of the forests around here and if he likes you, you might get an apple or two. Kirby gets them a lot. Hey, uh, it's funny, your hair is just as pink as Kirby is!"

That name again, Ribbon thought. Benikage then swiftly blushed.

"Um, sorry, I don't mean anything bad by it; it's very nice. Uhh, I'm not being forward or anything! It's just I haven't met anyone like you before and… oh, jeez, the guys would laugh at me if they heard this…"

"It's fine," said Ribbon, finding herself liking the ninja. "Um, is Kirby a friend of yours?"

Benikage brightened up. "Oh yeah. You could say he's practically everyone's friend. He helps me out with my ninja skills as well when I haven't got the official lessons which is funny because he's like what, eight or so years younger than me officially, officially?"

Ribbon tilted her head to one side. "What do you mean 'officially'?"

"Oh, he crash-landed here when he was a really little kid so we don't know his exact age really."

This information was quite interesting to Ribbon. I wonder if it was like how I crash-landed here? she thought.

Ribbon let Benikage talk at length, hoping that the constant stream of mundane chatter would provide a distraction to her turmoiled thoughts. He seemed easy enough to get along with and a friendly sort of fellow. She didn't even notice that she had arrived at the conference room despite the big sign slapped on the door until the ninja specifically pointed it out.

"I'm not allowed to go in there," Benikage admitted, "so you'll have to go in by yourself so, um, good luck."

"Thank you," Ribbon replied. I'll need more than luck though.

Taking a deep breath, Ribbon let herself be admitted and be at the mercy of the commanders of the Galaxy Soldier Army.


Dark figures slowly closed the gap between themselves and the planet that shimmered like a star. The being they sought was here. The creature they needed to take was here. It was not to be destroyed. They were injured but alive and therefore they were still able to carry out their Master's wishes. Only death would prevent them from doing so.

The terrible light of the planet threatened to pierce their outer bodies but they prevailed. Their brethren had been here before. They were strong. They had to enter.

Soon they passed through the golden atmosphere and began their search.


Ribbon could not help but gasp as she entered the room.

The area in question was large and the people occupying it were seated around a low, round table. In the centre was a glowing star chart that could be touched to highlight different points though each occupant had their own copies of the charts for a quick point of reference. One side of the room held a series of long bookshelves each groaning with heavy, leather-bound tomes, records and maps that had been collected over many years by various members of the GSA and collated together to add to their ever-increasing database about all things concerned with the Gamble Galaxy. A cabinet in the corner contained such important things as extra paper, pens and so forth whilst to the other side of that were strange items that Ribbon did not know the purpose of: emblems of acceptance to gain admittance in different lands, also communication devices by the looks of things and maybe pieces that once belonged to old starships and were displayed for remembrance's sake. And of course, there were the extra weapons and armour hoisted against the wall. For self-defence. Just in case.

"Welcome, Miss Ribbon. Please be seated and thank you for coming promptly. Would you like coffee or tea?"

Ribbon blinked. It was hardly the first question she'd been expecting.

"Um, coffee please. Milk, no sugar."

"An excellent choice."

There was only one spare seat around the table and to her surprise, it was next to Kirby who cheerily waved her over. It seemed strange that such a young person should be here mind; he looked out of place amongst the larger, armoured warriors but perhaps they had asked him to attend because he was the one who had brought Ribbon to the GSA Headquarters. She took a seat and gratefully accepted a cup for no meeting could be conducted without the liberal application of a hot brew, not to mention a biscuit or two. It was remarkably excellent. She felt a tiny bit of tension ease.

"Now," said the first speaker, a male adorned in golden armour and a light green mask from behind which purple-blue eyes could be discerned, "before we get onto the primary matter, I'd like to introduce ourselves first. My name is Sir Arthur and my comrades are Sir Falspar, Sir Dragato, Sir Nonsurat, Sir Meta Knight and Kirby."

Each of those introduced waved in response or at least inclined their heads. Out of the five named sirs, four of them removed their masks to reveal faces that were like those of puffballs although not quite the same. The one with the peculiar glowing, yellow eyes kept his mask on however.

"Very well," said Sir Arthur, taking an appreciative sip, "we know so far that you arrived from another planet and somehow fell from the sky holding a mysterious crystal object as you are doing now." Ribbon realised with a jolt she hadn't let the shard go in all this time. "You remarked that you were apparently being followed by something or someone; more than one entity in fact, and you were in considerable distress over not only this particular crystal of yours being broken in some way but that your planet and people were under a great threat, perhaps with the chance of death being involved. Is this true?"

Ribbon nodded, unsure where this was heading.

"We represent the Galaxy Soldier Army, also known as the GSA. Have you heard of us on your planet before?"

Ribbon shook her head. "Um, no," she whispered. "I don't really remember the GSA being mentioned before. It might have been but I don't know. I only heard about it for the first time yesterday."

"Interesting. What is the name of your planet?"

"R-Ripple Star."

There was a series of low murmurs. Subsequently, the location of Ripple Star was searched for and once found, expanded on the interstellar chart for a clear, three-dimensional view of the planet in question, displaying also its position within the Gamble Galaxy and its distance from Popstar at all points of their respective orbits. The celestial body currently appeared in its normal state as opposed to what it had become since the invasion. Ribbon looked longingly at the image and sighed knowing how her planet had been cruelly polluted by that dark, choking cloud. Records were also produced although these were sparse and infrequently dated; it seemed that there had not been much business to conduct upon Ripple Star before now which given their usual business, could be considered rather a good thing, although to be fair, the GSA's resources had been non-existent for a lengthy amount of time until rather recently.

"I've been there before; quite some years ago in fact," Sir Nonsurat reminisced. "A heart-shaped planet with a pink atmosphere when seen from beyond much like Popstar's is golden. Beautiful land, beautiful cities, beautiful fairies – you are a fairy, aren't you?"

"Y-yes, sir," Ribbon answered. Her delicate, clear wings marked her so and they indeed enabled her to fly; perhaps not as well as the average bird and inadvisable during poor conditions, but she could fly nonetheless. "Just one of the common type of fairies really."

"There's nothing common about fairies at all! I was once in the Aero Region of Ripple Star and—"

"Thank you, Sir Nonsurat," Sir Arthur cut across. "We don't need that story again."

"Ah, sorry, Sir Arthur," the turquoise knight said although he couldn't quite help but grin. "It was a pleasant time though. It was one of the few truly peaceful planets in the Gamble Galaxy."

"It isn't so peaceful now…" Ribbon murmured before she could stop herself.

"Well," said Sir Arthur, "the GSA pledges itself upon being the protectors of the galaxy; we have so for many years. In our fighting ranks we have many Galaxy Soldiers and a few Star Warriors – the elite among us – and many people possessing vital skills that help us communicate with and support people in different lands on different planets. We have fought against the forces of evil time and time again and our reward is a galaxy of relative peace and security, one that is happy and secure with itself. If anything threatens those ideals, we'll be the first to restore those affected to harmony. As such, we will be grateful to you if you describe the exact circumstances that led to your arrival in Dream Land on Popstar."

Slowly, Ribbon began to explain what had happened: the day had started off normally enough with the exception of an impending storm. However, not so long afterwards, a powerful dark malevolence had suddenly appeared out of nowhere; no normal invaders or anything like that. She had heard terrible screams and she assumed that those people had been assaulted by that evil force though she had not exactly witnessed it with her own eyes. All she was concerned about was getting to the Great Crystal.

Sir Falspar adjusted the settings on the interstellar chart and smoothed his red mohawk. "Hmm, Ripple Star looks to be closest to Shiver Star although that place doesn't have any true sentient races anymore. They disappeared under mysterious circumstances a long time ago leaving only a frozen, mechanical wasteland; perhaps an example of their own folly. They did have those strange factories there and we know that demonbeasts have roamed the continents there previously."

"I doubt they would have the intelligence to wage that kind of assault," said Sir Dragato drily. Without his mask, he carried quite the stern expression. "Especially if they are not beholden to any kind of master and there is still a significant distance between those planets. For an assault to be on a planetary scale, it must have been coordinated. But I wonder. Ripple Star is so far away from Popstar; how on earth did you come to arrive here?"

"By the Great Crystal," Ribbon explained.

Sir Dragato raised an eyebrow. "Just the Great Crystal?"

"Let her explain," Sir Arthur said. "Continue, child."

The Great Crystal, Ribbon continued, was an extraordinarily powerful, magical artefact that had existed on Ripple Star for as long as anybody could recall and was kept safely contained within the Fairy Queen's palace in the Fae Kingdom. It had been guarded for generations and the legends spoke of its power to purify people and the land. Ribbon spoke tentatively of how she had recently been appointed a Crystal Guardian of which duties involved not only guarding the Great Crystal but drawing out the energies of lesser Crystals strewn across the lands for healing purposes and as a clean source of power for running their industries and keeping their homes warm and bright. Crystal Guardians also traditionally served as part of their ruling monarch's retinue and as such it was a permanent role and one considered a great honour; an employment to be considerably proud of. Crystal Guardians were few and far in-between though as only select individuals could draw out even a little energy from a Crystal Shard so there were never many people to pass down the training that had been conducted for over a millennium. Still, Ribbon had only been approached as there was apparently history of the role in her family and as fortune would have it, she possessed the aptitude for the training and had her future secured for life. However, she had only recently been engaged to the position before the disaster struck and as such had little training to her name and incomplete knowledge regarding the Great Crystal.

What did she know however was that while powerful, the Great Crystal was unfortunately fragile and as such was at risk of destruction from invaders or those who wished to use it for their own nefarious ends. The queen had ordered her to take the Great Crystal away as there were no other Crystal Guardians nearby and find help for their planet. Ripple Star's greatest treasure had managed to protect her during the escape but she had been hunted down by the invaders and they successfully broke the Great Crystal. Somehow, she had ended up here.

During this time, Sir Nonsurat had been flicking through the GSA records.

"This kind of thing has never happened on your planet before, has it?" he enquired.

"I don't believe so, sir," Ribbon answered.

"I suppose not. Chances are it would have been in our records if it had."

"Can it cross dimensions this Great Crystal?" Sir Falspar asked. "It would not be unknown for such a thing to happen for it to allow you to travel such a vast distance."

"I… don't really know. I was being attacked at the time." Ribbon then recalled how space seemed to form a tunnel around her almost like a wormhole although she hadn't paid attention to it at the time. "I guess it would though."

"These attackers," Sir Arthur prompted. "Were they part of the main assault on Ripple Star?"

"Yes. They seemed to come from this dark cloud and there were three of them. They had a single eye each and they looked like dark orbs but I don't know what they were…"

"They are part of an entity known as Dark Matter."

Ribbon turned to face the speaker as did the others. The warrior had his long cape draped across his body and he still wore his silver mask. Before him rested a pen and several neatly scribed pages; evidently, he had been taking copious notes. His previously yellow eyes were now glowing green in deep thought.

"I thought it had been destroyed," Sir Falspar frowned.

For some reason, one that was curious to Ribbon, Kirby shifted on the spot and looked almost… guilty.

The warrior with the colour-shifting eyes noticed and said as much for his protégé's benefit as anyone else's, "That individual known as Dark Matter Blade was destroyed but the rest, no. It is incredibly doubtful that such an enemy and its leader can be destroyed wholly being manifestations that have existed for millennia; you know this as well as I do. Dark Matter constantly replenishes itself even if we get rid of the stronger individuals so we can only hope to subdue it for some time. It is back far sooner than I would have hoped but it is not so surprising; the signs are clear." It had been obvious from near the start but in their experience, it was unwise to jump to conclusions too quickly. He looked at Ribbon. "Tell me, did you happen to notice perchance a being of great size, shaped as a singular, bloodied eyeball?"

The image made the fairy shudder.

"N-no. I just saw those black orbs."

"if you saw multiple of those orbs, that Dark Matter, and they came from a dark cloud that had the power to envelop Ripple Star, its leader Zero will still be alive."

"How can it be? That thing was destroyed along with the Hyper Zone," Sir Falspar insisted. "It exploded for heavens' sake."

Kirby had been sat next to Meta Knight this entire time and was bored and frustrated at his seemingly pointless presence here, required only because he was a Star Warrior like the others. Now he felt a sudden chill in the air. A black, cloud-like void that covered the skies of Dream Land, drawing its surroundings into a seeming nothingness, its mysterious arms spreading to all five corners of their world, an intense silence that characterised the inner environment and the strange orbs that abounded that space, threatening to dissolve an intruder into that same nothingness, and the thudding intensity that remained ever-growing, its origin unknown, and in the centre of the oblivion was the one known as Zero. All that passed into the void was the Warp Star and its rider. One person that the world had to depend on and if he had failed…

"We should be able to use the Love-Love Stick again, right?" Sir Dragato asked, punctuating the question with a scoff. Love-Love Stick indeed. Who on earth had given it that name in the first place?

Kirby hesitated as he spoke for the first time in the meeting. It was impossible to shake off the reminders of that dark time. "It vanished after destroying Zero; I don't know where it went."

Sir Dragato gave a stern look of glowering exasperation. The fact that only the boy had entered, was the only one able to enter, was something of a considerable frustration for want be of a better description, that they had needed to depend on him alone. "What use is your power if—"

"Sir Dragato, please." Meta Knight held up a hand. "Kirby has no control over that. The Heart Stars were only created both as a result of Popstar's energies in reaction to the Dark Matter assault and the emotions of the people during that time. We will not have that same opportunity again since Popstar is not the main target this time."

As Sir Dragato sat back murmuring to himself, Ribbon asked, "Does that mean this planet has been attacked by this… Dark Matter as well?"

"Indeed," Meta Knight answered. "The first time it was thankfully contained within Dream Land alone although the GSA had not yet set up quarters here, still gathering recruits and it was still gathering by the time of the second assault so there were still very few of us here on Popstar." He gave a meaningful look to Sir Dragato. "But that was then. Clearly, we must gather the Crystal Shards and restore them to their full glory and then use the Great Crystal to cleanse Ripple Star and reduce Zero's influence before it is fought once more."

Ribbon was doubtful about the success of this course of action and voiced her concerns to the group about how the shards must surely have scattered everywhere unless they had some special resources available to them. The only piece of information she felt she could offer that would prove useful was that the shards were meant to be connected to one another and sense each other's presence in the event that it was ever broken like now and they would be compelled to draw to one another. If on the field with at least one shard, then perhaps it could help pinpoint the next like a compass. She tried dredging up her scant lessons; perhaps, if they were extremely fortunate, the connection between the shards had allowed them to not be distributed so very far from each other on whichever planets they had landed upon. Maybe, she did not voice this thought for fear of sounding ridiculous, maybe the shards wanted to be found, they wanted to be whole again, and it would somehow be easier for one of skill to locate them in the first place. It was but a wishful hope.

Sir Falspar, clearly the technical-minded one of the group, stood up and inputted some data into the console before him and Ribbon saw a string of numbers flash on screen that made not an ounce of sense to her. The image displayed on the interstellar chart changed in an instant and a number of blue lights emerged, dotting the surface of the holographic planets. "We are able to detect the energy signatures of the various shards on the different planets," Sir Falspar spoke with a hint of pride. "Very weak of course over such a distance so we can't be sure of the exact locations but at least we know there are none drifting in space. I daresay I'll be able to finetune the process even further given time and a few more examples."

"How do you know this?" Ribbon questioned. She held her shard as if for dear life. "How do you have the energy signature?"

"Kirby," Sir Arthur commanded.

The pink puffball pulled out another shard exactly like Ribbon's and placed it on the table.

"Where did you get that?" Ribbon said suddenly, trying not to sound accusatory.

"It hit me while I was outside not long before you did," Kirby replied.

"Oh." Ribbon would later notice that Kirby had quite the bruise on his back. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Kirby smiled. "I've been hit by worse things before."

The GSA leader drained his third cup of coffee. "Now, Miss Ribbon, if you would hand over your shard, something may happen."

Ribbon was almost inclined to say no, not wanting to let go, but something in the golden warrior's voice made her obey. She made to move the shard over to Sir Arthur but the shard floated of its own accord and joined with the other shard that Kirby had previously set down. There was a flash of light and the two had become a single bigger shard. Sir Arthur nodded. "It is a start."

The Crystal Shard drifted back down and for the first time Ribbon had hope.

"I think it would be best to gather all the shards on Popstar first before we move onto the other planets if possible," Sir Arthur remarked. "We shall need to work out how best to conduct an effective search with the numbers we have."

As the high-ranking warriors debated the logistics of the search, Meta Knight murmured to Kirby, "It looks as if your fate will be intertwined with that of Zero once more."

"I guess so…"

Ribbon heard their words. She wasn't sure what to make of that.

Later on, after much heated discussion and arguing, the meeting finally drew to a close.

"We will send out our best warriors as soon as possible," Sir Arthur informed the fairy, "and we will need to discuss further issues concerning Zero and Dark Matter for it may be that they will make themselves known on Popstar." The golden warrior pressed a button. "We will have someone escort you to the guest chambers and we'll let you know of further arrangements as soon as we have finished discussions."

"Um, thank you everyone," Ribbon mumbled. "I don't know how I'll ever repay you."

"Not at all. It is for the purpose of the galaxy that we embark on this endeavour. We shall speak to you later."

Her audience was now at an end. The fairy thanked them once again and headed out, noticing how Meta Knight and Kirby were looking her way. Out of them all, they were the two who intrigued her the most, Kirby especially. Just who was Kirby exactly?

She would find out more in the future.


Later that night, Kirby sat on the roof of the GSA headquarters and stared out to Cappy Town and Castle Dedede, counting how many lights were switched on, certain that this time he wouldn't be struck by anything out of the blue. He often came up here to think and have some privacy even though he technically wasn't allowed on the roof, although no-one had ever explicitly forbidden him from doing so. Right now, he hoped that he would not be disturbed as his thoughts kept running around in circles and he was having great trouble sorting them out.

The references to Zero and the Dark Matter race brought up bad memories for the young Star Warrior. It was not so very long ago when he had fought the hardest battle of his life in taking down Zero deep within the Hyper Zone before the incomprehensible horror could consume their world whole. Armed only with Heart Stars that formed a rod with a bright heart at its tip, Kirby had struggled against Zero alone when he and he alone had been dragged into the heart of the oblivion by some unknown force. Everything was screaming at him to flee this terror, flee this empty space, and yet he found that the only way he could leave was by death of one or the other. The void became filled with blood shot forth from openings in Zero's eye and Kirby had been forced to evade the erratic eyeball being, flinging hearts from the Love-Love Stick as hard as he could to block the attacks. He remembered Zero's last-ditch attempt to kill him, furiously detaching the red retina from the rest of the eye and a shower of blood spurting out, the bloodied eye then continuously circling around Kirby and violently ramming into him, attempting to knock him into the endless void, to fall for eternity. Severely weakening itself in the process, it could not defend itself from Kirby now taking the opportunity to maniacally fire heart after heart into the detached eye. Before long, Zero spiralled out of control, severely haemorrhaging, then finally exploding. The void had vanished soon after and blue skies returned and Kirby plummeted to the earth below, landing before all those waiting for him, desperate for his safe return, who saw Kirby covered in blood that was not his own.

Alone now, Kirby hugged himself tightly. More than once had he been depended upon to save people he loved and cared for, save the world even. Now that Meta Knight felt Kirby was destined to fight Zero again, the young Star Warrior was sure that his mentor could not be wrong. He desperately hoped that this would prove untrue but his mentor was rarely wrong. Something would conspire to place him in the centre of events yet again and he would have no choice but to face it. Despite the presence of more experienced, older warriors than him, the burden would fall on his shoulders, a weight that felt heavier than ever.

He looked to the stars in the night sky, his usual comfort; now they seemed dim, cold and too far away. He knew that Zero would be making plans beyond the domination of Ripple Star, plans that concerned the other worlds in their galaxy and plans that concerned Popstar, infesting the planets for its own twisted purpose. And just like last time, demonbeasts would arise and it would be his job to eradicate them no matter what.

He didn't know how right he would be.


Thanks for reading! Just a quick note though even though I tend not to add notes at the end of a chapter. I originally called the doctor Kemi as a derivative of the Japanese name for the enemy which was something like 'Chemitory' while the English was purported to be 'Pillah'. This has since changed to also be 'Chemitory' which makes the personal name choice to be a bit like a "A Lizard Named Liz" situation but the name's stuck in my mind so I'm not changing it now. ^^