(Heh, a review mentioned that Shiver Star looks like Earth. Can't say I don't know of it, although Shiver Star's atmosphere in "The Onyx Shards" won't be like Earth (AKA Geo Star). Anyway, back to the story, which is coming along fine, I guess. I DID notice that some of the lines wouldn't appear, so it MIGHT cause some confusion. In this case, I'll replace that with with what I usually do, which is ~~(Text goes here)~~ Anyway, enjoy Chapter 3!)

(Characters so far: Skiler (Ice/Cutter combo for Shiver Saw), Kirby (Bomb/Fire combo for Fireworks Blast), Ribbon (2 Onyx Shard's from last chapter, totalling 2 thus far in the story.) And soon, Dee.

Skiler: He inherited the Copy Ability with some gloves, and now has a Shiver Saw weapon at his disposal... for the meantime, at least. His first quest is to gather the Onyx Shards with Kirby and Ribbon. Will he suceed with his newfound friends?

Kirby: The true hero of the Kirby 64 game, Kirby now helps Ribbon AND Skiler to find the Onyx Shards.

Ribbon: A Fairy of Ripple Star, she currently does not know the state of Ripple Star. She journeys with Kirby and Skiler to keep the shards safe.

Dee: Once transformed by an evil virus known simply as "The Cybertron Virus", he will join the other heroes to aid them in their new quest.)

~~(Chapter 3: The Blackened Forest)~~

Skiler took a bit of damage when Cyber-Dee (1) launched himself into his chest. Skiler tried counter-attacking with the Shiver Saw, but it only resulted in it being bounced back. Aw man! he thought. That's really messed up!

He managed to dodge another blow from Cyber-Dee, but just barely, and Cyber-Dee hit Kirby instead. Oops! Kirby blasted fireworks in Cyber-Dee's face, but Cyber-Dee still wasn't out of the fight yet. He gave Kirby a few jabs, followed by an uppercut, which knocked Kirby out, for a moment or two, before resuming blasting Cyber-Dee with fireworks. Cyber-Dee was minimally phased, though, and he continued to attack Kirby.

Meanwhile, Skiler and Ribbon were discussing a strategy. "Cyber-Dee seems really strong," Ribbon told Skiler. "Maybe if we had a different attack..."

Skiler shook his head. "It would still do minimal damage to Cyber-Dee," he told Ribbon. Then he noticed something. "Cyber-Dee hasn't completely changed! His whole front is infected with the Cybertron Virus (2), but his backside remained unchanged!"

Ribbon gave Skiler a stern look. "And that's supposed to mean something?" Skiler nodded. "It means that his backside is vulnerable to any attack still!" He took off at a run, raised his sword... and was knocked back by Cyber-Dee. But, seeing the opening, Skiler shouted, "Kirby, now!"

One more fireworks show put an end to this Cybertron Viral showdown. The Cybertron Virus detached from Dee and flew off.

We'll get you yet! The Virus hissed at Skiler. Skiler recovered the Onyx Shard, shared high-fives with Kirby and Ribbon, said "You're not evil, so you're welcome to join us, if you'd like," to Dee, and ran off with Kirby and Ribbon. This was when Dee made up his mind, and dashed off toward the others, saying, "WAIT! I'm coming with you!!!" Skiler stopped long enough for Dee to catch up to him, grabbed him, and ran off towards the others. A new ally had been aquired.

~~(The Forest of Autumn)~~

"Oh no," Kirby whispered.

While the new group of four travelled to the Forest of Autumn, the leaves, they noticed, were charred and crisp. The ground was black, too. Someone, or some giant Kirby fire-type enemy, did this. But, who?

"This was the source of all crops being okay (3)," Kirby told Skiler. "Now it's a sign that the crops are... dying!"

Skiler nodded grimly. "We've got to find out who's responsible and stop him from doing this," he told the others. That's when they heard a moan. "What was that?" Skiler questioned. There was another moan. "Well, let's find out," Kirby said bravely.

Earlier, Skiler had disposed of the Shiver Saw and replaced it with an Electro-magnetic shield. He still needed some use for the Spark/Spark combo. When they reached the moaning noise, there stood Whispy Wood (4), eyes half-closed, as if he was about to drop from exaustion. When he saw Kirby and the others, he only smiled at them. "You can't kill a dying tree," he taunted weakly. Skiler wasn't fooled. "What happened?" he asked Whispy Wood.

"Some idiot with a flamethrower (5) came in and burnt the forest," he replied softly. "He yelled "I BURN TREES!!!" and burnt me and the rest of the plantlife here to black and crispy!"

"So we've noticed," Kirby said. Whispy Wood nodded. Skiler was listening to the rest of the conversation.

After that, Whispy Wood said, "I hope you defeat him... Warriors." He made a short, gasping sound.

And died. Kirby felt tears come to his eyes. His old nemesis, the one and only, dead because of one man's hatred to nature.

Skiler, on the other hand, started dreaming again.

Skiler was in the past, before the Forest of Autumn was charred. He noticed a guy with a flamethrower strapped to him, the same guy that Whispy Wood had mentioned.

"Who are you and what do you want?!" Whispy Wood demanded. The man chuckled before glaring at Whispy Wood. "I am known as the Pyromancer...

...AND I BURN TREES!!!"

The guy known as the Pyromancer grabbed the flamethrower and spread the flames to the entire forest! When the flames reached Skiler, he could feel the searing heat from them!

Skiler awoke yelling again. Everyone but the dead Whispy wood (Of course) turned to stare at Skiler. "Anything wrong?" Ribbon asked.

Skiler took short, sharp breaths before finally taking a deep breath. "I saw it! I saw the forest get burned! And I know the identity of the guy mentioned as the Pyromancer!"

Dee chuckled. "Thanks for sharing the dream," he mused (6). Kirby gave Dee a smack on what was apparently his forehead. "Ow!" he added.

Kirby and Ribbon both looked at each other, before Ribbon came up to Skiler. "Let's see what's on your mind, actually," she said calmly, before extracting Skiler's last dream (7). She would put it back, but she wanted to be sure. She gasped. "Come look at this!" she told the others.

Skiler had been right. When the visual playback was finished, even skeptical Dee had to admit that Skiler made sense. When Ribbon put the dream back, Skiler's eyes snapped open. "Let's be on our way again," he said, calmly but mildly angry. And all four set off, on their way through the forest.

~~(R&R/Notes)~~

Time to R&R again. Well, the review of Shiver Star being similar to Earth... was amusing. Anyway, the notes:

(1) Cyber-Dee is the name of dee's Cybertron Viral form. The other two that have been infected by Dark Matter in the original game, Adeline and King DeDeDe, will be treated in a similar manner.

(2) These will only appear near the beginning of the story to be as close as possible to the original game while maintaining an original concept.

(3) The Forest of Autumn serves as the Crop Guardian for this story.

(4) The original first world boss of Kirby 64 will be replaced with a new one, mentioned in Skiler's vision.

(5) AKA the Pyromancer.

(6) Dee's personality is slightly skeptical, as mentioned in the beginning of that line.

(7) The vision of the past Skiler had about the Pyromancer. It's a repeat process, so I didn't bother re-adding it. Then again, it really isn't needed.