Chapter 28: Cheerless Cavern
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After a few seconds of intense eye rubbing, Ribbon watched the screeching Keke witch and dark skies replace the bright sun and clouds from a few seconds ago. Why Dark Matter- if it was Dark Matter- toyed with her mind and played with her planet, she couldn't figure out. Suns out ten seconds ago and now I find myself staring at a witch? What kind of force am I dealing with? The sound of Waddle Dee's voice interrupted Ribbons thoughts as she saw Dedede jump into a hole in the ground.
"We figured that maybe this hole can lead us into the castle from below. That or well just tunnel our way in," Waddle Dee called before jumping after Dedede.
Before Kirby took the leap, he asked Adeleine if he could swap his crystal combo for her Sparky. "That way I wont have to swim after eating so much."
"When do you not eat?" Adeleine grumbled as she stuffed the clay-brown crystal into her sack and the Sparky down Kirby's mouth. "Besides, why trade two for one?"
"That spike ball thingy moves too slow. One power shouldn't have that problem." Not Kirby's best explanation, but he hoped it was enough to satisfy Adeleine. After enjoying the rush of electricity running through his body, he jumped into the hole after the artist.
How strange. Ribbon approached the hole with caution, as if Dark Matter would jump out and engulf her. This far and they maintain their composure. She watched the black fog surround and squeeze life from Queen Gretchen's castle, then back to the hole. Just wait for me.
Ribbon dove down the hole and let gravity take over. During the descent, she passed odd glowing red hearts. Or were they turquoise? Pink? They continued changing color even after the pool of water she landed in clouded her vision. Her eyes darted to Kirby, who had been rubbing what she assumed was his nose. No. He wouldn't. Not here.
Kirby's body expanded twice before electricity burst from his body, sending powerful volts throughout everything and everyone still in the water, as well as shattering the yellow stone underneath him.
"Knock! It! Off! Puffball!" Dedede managed to say in between garbled gulps and sizzling shocks.
Five seconds passed before Kirby's sneeze ended. He rubbed his nose before his eyes focused on the shining jewel tucked in an alcove beneath the stone he somehow just destroyed. Before he could grab it, the jewel drifted through past Kirby and into the growing Shard Ribbon held.
"Water conducts electricity, you moron!" Again, Dedede made no attempt to hide his contempt for Kirby as he swam deeper into the cavern.
"Well, I'm sorry! You should have worn a rubber suit! Get Adeleine to paint you one."
But the best Adeleine had been able to paint before jumping down was scuba diving gear for herself. She turned around when she heard her name. "Do you know how many minutes it would take me to figure out to paint a scuba suit for a fat duck?"
"Penguin!"
Waddle Dee shut out the argument and swam ahead. Almost over and then they'll be quiet. He swam to a nearby blue and white Slushy jellyfish. "Excuse me, but were looking for a bunch of fairies and some missing shards. Have you seen any?"
The Slushy paused, as if giving Waddle's words a bit of thought. "Well, red puff, I have not seen any fairies daring enough to travel underwater except for your friend over there, and yes, a couple of these shards you speak of landed in the next cave. No one takes them since they do not grant any wishes, so you can have them."
"Thanks." Waddle turned towards the others. "You guys hear that? More shards up ahead."
"Well then, let's get to work!" Kirby flapped his arms as quick as the water pressure would allow him as he swam to Waddle Dee's side, but a tap-tap-tap sound had him whirling back around.
Adeleine tapped away at the glass in front of her. "Ribbon, are we in some kind of aquarium? How come there's glass underground?"
"No and the glass is to keep the water from spilling out and flooding the underground caves."
"Then why build caves underground if you're worried about flooding them anyway?"
"Adeleine, you ask too many questions. Why is Pop Star yellow? Why is your hat red and not orange-red? You don't question these things, you just accept it," was all Ribbon said as she swam towards an opening.
"That's because the hat was red when they gave it to me, genius," Adeleine mumbled under her breath.
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
When he emerged from the water, Kirby expanded his body as much as possible before spitting out a mouthful of water at the nearest flapping Flopper fish. The Flopper rocketed through a Scarfy, which became entangled in the thread of a Pupa spider. The Pupa dropped from the ceiling and flattened another nearby Scarfy face.
Dedede conked Kirby with his hammer. "See, now we can't ask them for directions."
"Its a straight path to that hole!" Adeleine pointed towards the exit. "Give me a break. Not like we'll have a problem walking straight."
Violent vibrations rocked the cavern while bits and pieces of stone rained from above Ribbons head.
Adeleine painted herself a hard helmet and placed it on her head before hiding within Dedede's coat. "I was wrong! Earthquake attack! Were all gonna die!"
"Make up your mind, already." Waddle Dee stumbled past Dedede towards the exit, but thanked the stars he hadn't taken one step further before the giant boulder crashed through and painted the walls with his body. He tapped the boulder. "Yep, solid and impossible to crack. Well, guys, wanna give me a hand with this?"
Without a word, Kirby rushed past Ribbon and Dedede and collided with the boulder. His body warbled and jiggled without control as he jittered backwards. He could feel the Sparky inside of him bounce around like a loose pinball while his eyes did figure eights. "There goes my idea," Kirby managed to say.
"You guys wouldn't get anywhere without me." Dedede shook Adeleine from his coat and removed his hammer. He sized himself up with the boulder, gave it a few taps, and nodded. "Yep, you all need me more than you think." He leaned back and gave the boulder a smash, creating train tracks of cracks in the sides. A second smash had more cracks colliding and overcoming other cracks, and with a furious jump and swing, Dedede split the stone down the middle.
Dedede ignored the rubble shower on his coat- he focused on clearing the rock littering the ground. When all stone had been cleared, he put his hammer behind his back and turned around. "Now what were you worried about?" He didn't give them a chance to respond before he crawled through the hole and deeper into the cave.
Adeleine pursed her lips and put her hands on her hips. "I'd like to paint his mouth shut." She gathered her soaked sack of paint supplies and followed after Dedede.
"At least he cleared the way," Ribbon pointed out.
"Yeah," Adeleine agreed, her scowl growing as she watched Dedede flatten a Kany crab, "but you can be strong and you can be a boasting duck, too."
Drops dripped onto the ground, crashing against the stones in the cave and creating a blend of echoes as everyone approached another hole. Across from it stood a chattering green Kapar that threw its crown the instant it recognized Kirby.
But Waddle Dee rushed past Kirby and kicked the crown back into the stone behind the Kapar. With its eyes focused on its weapon, the Kapar did not have time to notice the yellow elemental crystal heading its way until it was too late.
Kirby held the green and yellow crystal in his hand before swallowing it, allowing the power to flow through his body. He leapt down the hole, but hovered inches above the ground just before a Ghost Knight could pierce him with his spear.
The Knight pulled back for another strike and didn't waver when Kirby revealed his extensive glowing saber, but a growing dark circle had the Knight looking up just before it joined the ground underneath Dedede's robe.
Seconds later, after Ribbon floated down, Adeleine drifted to the ground on a wet, makeshift umbrella she had painted. "You know, duck, you could be Dark Matter, too?"
"How's that?"
"Because you take the fun out of everything!"
Without an enemy to destroy, Kirby took his saber and cut through several blocks and a lone Bo guarding the hole. He popped down another hole and found another Scarfy and Ghost Knight guarding a hole.
Yet Adeleine's attention was on the Scarfy. "Guys, looks like we have two choices for an exit. Which way should we go?"
"You and Ribbon check that one" Kirby told Adeleine as he, Dedede, and Waddle went for the Ghost Knight and Mahall creatures.
"I need a little more boost," Adeleine told Ribbon, who tried to hoist her through the other hole. Adeleine's head poked through the opening, but her smile vanished when all she found meeting her was a tomato. Frowning, she pocketed the tomato as she and Ribbon returned to the guys who had just finished off the last Mahall.
Dedede leaned over to the side of the hole. "More water, huh?" He turned to Adeleine. "I don't suppose you could paint me a scuba suit, could you?"
"Just cover your mouth with your coat," Adeleine told him before jumping into the water.
Ribbon smiled as the shard began to glow. Too bad she wouldn't be able to enjoy these exchanges much longer, but she would try and savor as much time as possible before the journey ended.
Kirby, Ribbon, Dedede, and Waddle dove in next. Kirby looked to his right and saw another shiny piece in the distance. "I'm going for it."
"We'll try and clear the way on the other side," Waddle replied while Kirby swam for the shard.
Underwater, however, Ripple Star presented little challenge to the group. No more enemies presented themselves. In fact, as Dedede and Waddle emerged from a hole on the other side, it felt as if every single baddie on the planet had vanished outside of the ones they had already destroyed. It made no sense- even Aqua Star had waters crawling with killer crabs and sharks, but Ripple? Just some jellyfish and a Fishbone. Where had they all gone?
"Well, this could be a problem." Dedede pointed to the mountain of blocks obstructing their path. "We could just plow through them all, but they look like they go on forever."
"Good." Waddle agreed. "I like a challenge. Even when-" He paused when Adeleine took out her easel and began painting. "At this time, Adeleine?"
"I can't help it!" Adeleine whined as her paintbrush rushed across the easel. "I haven't eaten in so long and I need my sugar rush!" She finished the last touches on her lollipop before it fell out of the easel and into her hands. At last. Adeleine picked up the sucker- her first bite into sugar since Aqua Star. Just one bite would get her going again. Just a bite. She could take it.
Yet somehow, when Adeleine bit into her treat, it felt hard and tasted bland. She opened her eyes and saw a Crystal Shard fragment resting in her hands. She looked to the left, the right, behind her easel in horror to find her candy before she heard a familiar chomping.
There sat Kirby, resting on one of the blocks and finishing off the rest of Adeleine's lollipop. The artist fell to her knees in despair.
"Oh, why?!"
"Just paint another one," Dedede reminded her.
But just as Adeleine prepared to do so, Kirby began to shake, rattle, and roll. His eyes changed from black to red to green and yellow before his body began to glow. A yellow hue surrounded Kirby as he shot through the blocks out of control like a runaway train. He plowed through block after block, unable to control his body. He pulled out his saber and swung it from left to right, but just managed to destroy several pillars tucked away in small alcoves before he whizzed through the alcove at the bottom level.
Waddle stared at the glowing streak of light where Kirby ran before looking back to Adeleine. "You've created a drug."
"Or a super strong adrenaline," Ribbon added.
"Who cares what she made?" Dedede called from the lower floor. He walked out to where the others could see him and held a shard in his hand. "At least she got him to blow through pillars and get us another shard!"
Well, that was enough. Ribbon flew down and added the shard as she, Waddle, Adeleine, and Dedede followed Kirby's path into the next room. They found Kirby staring at a raised platform in the center of the small room.
"See that?" Kirby pointed to the giant yellow star on the center of the platform. "Maybe its some kind of portal that'll take us back to Pop Star."
"But we don't want that," Dedede responded, tossing his hammer over his shoulder.
"Not like we have any other choice," Waddle Dee interjected as he jumped atop the platform. "If it is, we can at least use the Shard to get us back in a quick second. If not, we'll have to see what happens."
Dedede, Ribbon, and Adeleine followed suit and jumped atop the platform. It shifted and rumbled for a few seconds before lifting from the ground and rising higher into the air until it passed through the hole in the ceiling.
The platform stopped in a wild room filled with abandoned toys, floating stars galore, and an array of polygonal objects bathed in colors ranging from fuchsia to tan to goldenrod to emerald.
Adeleine frowned. "That was a short ride."
"Doesn't matter. That thing's glowing like crazy!" Waddle Dee pointed to the shard and then looked to the star covered doorway ahead. "Let's get moving!"
The five rushed through the entry and entered what looked like a replica of a living room. Sun filtered in through diamond shaped windows and shined upon the rainbow patterned tiles on the floor. The doorway sealed shut behind them.
"Great." Dedede rolled his eyes and pulled out his hammer. "Another giant. Does Dark Matter do anything original?"
A maraca crashed through the glass and diverted Dedede's attention. A lone Chacha creature crawled through the destroyed window and held her other maraca, ready to fight.
"One little thing. Lemme handle this." Before Dedede took a step forward, he leapt back in surprise when a fireball shot past him and burned a hole into the wall. He turned and saw a growling Galbo with steam emitting from its top. "Okay, two stupid little things. Still no problem-OW!" Dedede leaned forward from the impact of what felt like a hammer slamming into him.
Nope. Just a little Gabon that had scored a direct hit with his skull helmet.
"Three is still nothing!"
A Poppy Brother materialized from the air at the far end of the room and armed itself with a bomb in each hand. "Is that so?" He turned his attention to Kirby. "Well, don't get too cocky now, star warrior!"
The Galbo grinned. "Let's see how you handle us all at once on our planet!
From behind the Galbo materialized a Ghost Knight that pointed its spear towards Ribbon. "Too bad your queenie isn't here to see you die!"
The Chacha grabbed its second maraca. "We'll make sure you never reach the Dark One!"
"We'll just see about that!"
Kirby withdrew his saber.
Waddle Dee braced himself for battle.
Adeleine gripped her new baseball bat.
Dedede clutched his hammer.
Ribbons wings fluttered as she held the Shard above her head. It had all come down to this. She should have been shaking, but the last line of defense was just a bunch of small time creatures she and the others had walked all over on the way? A frown crossed her face as she spoke the one thought crossing her mind at the time.
"You guys don't give up, do you?"
