Pause:

Ribbon, Ripple Star's guardian, has been training hard. Now it's time to put it to the test. Use the crystal blaster to shoot, shield, and heal.

Moves:

A: Jump / Fairy Flight

+A: Slide

→→: Dash

↓↓ in midair: Quick Fall

L/R: Crystal Shield: Ribbon holds her crystal close as a bubble forms around her and prevents damage

L/R+↔↕: Dodge

L/R in midair: Air Dodge

B: Crystal Shot: Ribbon fires a shot from the crystal blaster. Blast can be charged up to three levels.

Hold B to charge and then release: Crystal Blast

Hold B longer before releasing: Crystal Nova Shot: Ribbon fires a charged shot that goes through enemies and explodes when it hits an object or wall.

While holding B press either : Sharpshooter: Ribbon aims the shot.

+ B: Ascending Fairy Dance: Ribbon shoots upwards with a spin, energy crystals spinning around her

Press and hold B, and then release: Fairy Dance Crescendo: Ribbon ascends the same as Ascending Fairy Dance, and then, at the end of the rise, the crystals shoot out from Ribbon.

+ B: Fairy Retreat: Ribbon dives backwards in an arc, firing rapid shots from her crystal blaster.

Dash + B: Crystal Ride: Ribbon summons energy shaped like the main crystal and rides it forward. Plows through smaller enemies. If it hits a larger enemy, the crystal shatters, knocking Ribbon back.

Dash + B in midair: Fairy Dance Stride: Ribbon spins forward in the air, a group of crystals spinning around her.

+ B while in midair: Crystal Rainstorm: Ribbon flips upside down in the air, firing rapidly below her while spinning.

then then hold B then release: Focus Shot: Ribbon closes her eyes and summons two blasters. As long as the button is held down, reticles will begin to appear on all on-screen enemies. When released, Ribbon will rapid-fire at all the enemies she locked on to. Can hit enemies in the foreground or background.

Hold X: Crystal Heal: Ribbon puts both hands on the crystal like a prayer. A soothing aura surrounds her and Kirby, healing them. Health recovered comes from food items collected when both players are at full health.

+ X: Crystal Sentry: Ribbon tosses her blaster up before summoning another one. Previous blaster becomes a crystal that floats close by and fires when Ribbon fires. Ribbon can summon two Sentries max but loses the ability to charge by one level for each.

+ X while Crystal Sentry is active: Dismiss: Ribbon re-absorbs any active Crystal Sentries back into her crystal.

Level: Fine Fields 1

Resume: Yes / No


Ribbon and Kirby worked their way through the now dubbed Fine Fields. The only opposition they had come across had been a few rouge waddle dees and a sword knight.

Right now, Ribbon was looking for a way past the wall in front of them while Kirby was cutting down grass with his sword ability.

"Hey, Ribbon," he called as he ran towards her. "Look what I found!"

He held up an object. Said object appeared to be a star-shaped ring with a silver chain leading to a-

"Is that… you?" Ribbon asked.

The flat object at the end of the chain appeared to be a stunning likeness of Kirby except for the fact it was a monochrome gray.

"Why is it gray?"

"I think it's supposed to be a really young me, probably back when I first came to Popstar. It took a few years before my pink color came in."

"Huh," Ribbon said, tilting her head. "Why is there a keychain of you up here? Where'd you even find it?"

Kirby shrugged.

"Who knows? Maybe Master Hand put it here. He likes to leave things like this in Dreamland." He pointed back towards the bushes he was messing with. "I found it when I was cutting down those plants."

Ribbon was about to question why there was a keychain in a bush when she spotted something.

"Kirby, look," she said, pointing at the object.

Kirby titled his head as he looked at the new object that definitely wasn't there before.

"I think it's a… warp star?" he asked.

It was certainly warp star like in shape, but unlike the warpstar, it consisted of a smaller, somewhat blunted star sitting in the center of a large star-shaped ring that occasionally spun around the smaller star.

"Maybe the warp star had babies?"

Ribbon raised a brow. "Can it… do that?"

Kirby shrugged. Warp stars occurred naturally in the universe but the one Kirby could call was tied to his own energy. This similar object had the same feeling, just smaller. He wouldn't put it past his warp star. It seemed to have a mind of it's own, often appearing where it thought it could help Kirby get past something.

"It must of been hiding in the grass," he said. He turned back to her and grinned. "Let's ride it!"

Ribbon gulped.

"Do we have to?"

Kirby had taken her on his warpstar a few times. While the flight had been enjoyable, she wasn't a fan of Kirby's landing strategy.

"I don't see any other way to go," he responded, already walking towards it. "Come on, Ribbon."

"Okay," she sighed. She grabbed onto the edge of the star next to Kirby.

"Just try not to crash it this tiiiIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

She screamed as Kirby steered the warp star into the unknown.


The ride was, thankfully, rather short. Ribbon was unsure which direction they were going though as she had squeezed her eyes shut when they rocketed off.

The only warning Ribbon was given to their ride being over was the sudden lack of warp star to hold on to. The fairy was tossed into the air. She let out a squeak as she was quickly grabbed.

"Hey, Ribbon," Kirby said. "We're back on the ground."

She opened her eyes to find herself held in Kirby's arms. If she wasn't trying to push her heart back down her throat, she would have blushed. Kirby set her on her feet.

"Seriously Kirby," she scolded. "You need to learn to land."

He shrugged her off and started to move forward.

"Sorry, Ribbon. I'll try to be more careful."

'If I didn't know any better,' she thought with a pout. 'I'd say he was doing it on purpose just to catch me. She shook her head. 'Yeah, right.'

With Kirby moving ahead, she was unable to catch the faint blush he was sporting.

'It's weird, but I like holding her.'

The two proceed through the fields, coming across another keychain.

Ribbon's phone rang.

"Gah! It's Queen Ripple!" she said checking her caller ID.

She shouldn't have been so surprised. Queen Ripple always called Ribbon in the morning. It was a part of her morning routine ever since Ribbon had gotten the phone and Ripple Star had gotten a better communication infrastructure in place.

"H-hey Queen Ripple," she answered. "Uh, I'm a little busy right now. Can I call you back?"

"Does it have something to do with why DeDeDe hasn't texted me back. He usually gets back to me pretty quick."

"Uh, kinnda."

"Is it another crisis?! Has something happened to DeDeDe!?" She asked frantically.

"Calm down, your majesty," she said, trying to soothe her nerves. "Kirby and I are working on it." She quickly explained how Castle DeDeDe had been lifted into the sky and the subsequent DeDeDe-napping.

"Stalks lifting buildings into the sky and floating islands," the Queen mumbled. "Why does that sound familiar?"

"Hey, Ribbon!" Kirby called from up ahead. "Check this out!"

"Gotta go, your majesty," she said quickly.

"Alright, be careful and keep me posted."

"I will," she affirmed before hanging up.

She quickly found Kirby stopped in front of a large vine.

"Wooooooow," she cooed.

Hanging from the end of the vine hung a red fruit encased in a slowly spinning yellow spiral. The drop-shaped fruit cast off a blue light.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Don't know," he said with a shrug.

Ribbon snapped a picture of it and sent it to Ripple.

"I'm gonna eat it."

Ribbon blanched.

"What? Kirby, you can't just eat random fruits," she argued. "What if it's poisonous?"

"I don't think it is," he said. He tilted his head in though. "Also it's glowing. Glowing things tend to be good."

"That's not a good argume-"

Before Ribbon could finish her sentence, Kirby jumped up and pulled the mystery fruit from the vine.

"Woah," he gasped. "This thing feels powerful."

"Kirby, are you sure this is a good idea?"

He grinned at her.

"Don't worry, Ribbon." He hefted the fruit over his head and tapped his chest. "Chef Kawasaki says I've got an Iron stomach. I'll be fine."

She sighed.

"Alright, but if it makes you sick, don't say I didn't warn you."

Kirby laughed and tossed the fruit up in the air.

"Bottoms up!" he cried, as he opened his mouth to catch the fruit.

He swallowed the fruit and froze.

"Kirby?" Ribbon asked. "Kirby, are you okay?"

She put a hand to his shoulder. A zing of warmth passed through her from the point of contact and settled in her chest.

"Wha-"

Before she could question it, she had to shield her eyes, as Kirby's pink coloring literally exploded off him, like globs of paint.

"Woah!" Kirby cried. "This is amazing!" He held up a hand and turned to Ribbon. "Check it out! I'm all rainbow-y now."

Ribbon stared in shock. The colors of the rainbow fluctuated across Kirby's skin.

He blinked at her.

"What's with the new look?" he asked. "It's a cute look on you."

"What are you talking about, Kirby?"

He took out a phone and took a picture of her.

"Look," he said, showing her the picture.

"Huh?" she gasped.

On the display was a picture of Ribbon with some noticeable changes. She glanced at her arms. Just like in the photo, vines spiraled up her arms and connected to the crystal around her neck. She grabbed at her hair where she could feel the flower petals threaded through it. The center of her bow now sported a cherry blossom in full bloom.

"What? How? Why?" she asked herself softly.

Despite the new look, Ribbon found herself completely calm. The vines connected to her piece of the sacred crystal didn't worry her. The petals in her hair and the flower on her bow simply felt like a part of her instead of an accessory.

'This… feels natural,' she thought. 'Like… a part of me I didn't know existed has come to the surface.'

"Are you okay?" Kirby asked.

Ribbon shook her head to clear her thoughts.

"I'm fine," she said after a second. " What about you?"

"I feel great!" he said. "I feel super charged. Like I could inhale an entire tree!" He gasped as his eyes widened. "Maybe I can!"

He dashed off to a tree in the distance.

"Wait, Kirby. What are yo-"

Kirby spread his feet and began to inhale. A massive gust of air ruffled the leaves, knocking some off and sending them into the black hole of Kirby's stomach. The intensity of the gust increased. The tree bent, roots began to breach the surface, Kirby's super inhale literally ripping it from the ground. There was a large cracking sound as the tree finally gave way. Kirby swallowed the tree easily.

"Awsome!" he cheered. "Did you see that, Ribbon! I've never inhaled something that big before!"

Ribbon stood slack jawed behind him.

"Maybe I can inhale something even bigger?"

He started running ahead.

"Come on, Ribbon!" he called. "We gotta test this out."

Ribbon shook her head fiercely.

"So that's kind of terrifying," she whispered to herself as she chased after him.


Kirby's experimenting with his new 'Super Inhale' actually turned out to be a positive. Upon Kirby's destruction of a third tree, (it was actually three trees of various sizes.) they had found something hidden beneath it.

Ribbon cautiously picked it up.

"What is it?" Kirby asked at her side.

"I don't know," she said, running a hand over the strange flower shaped stone. It reminded her of a sunflower with its six golden petals surrounding a blue jewel. "But it feels… warm."

She handed the stone to Kirby.

"Huh," Kirby huffed. "You're right. It's like… taking a nap in the sunshine."

She smiled at the comparison.

"We should collect as many of these sun stones as we can," he said, tucking the newly dubbed item away. "I think they're important." He tapped his chest. "Let's see if my new hypernova form can dig up any more."

"Hypernova?"

"Yeah. It's what I'm calling it," he said, clearly proud of himself. "What do you think? I'm Hypernova Kirby!"

She giggled.

"I think it fits."

The two continued on, Kirby's new Hypernova form carving their way forward.

"Aw man," Kirby whined.

They had indeed come across another sun stone. This one was stuck in a large stone cage. Said cage was perched on a ledge above them. Kirby had been able to drag it down with his inhale, but the cage survived the drop.

"How are we gonna get it out of there?" Kirby asked. "I guess bomb could get it out, but I can't copy anything in Hypernova."

"I could try blasting it," Ribbon offered.

Kirby waved her forward.

"Go ahead. We've got nothing else to try."

Ribbon summoned the blaster and fired. Unfortunately, she didn't notice the shape of the blaster was similar to a flower, nor did she notice the vines that extended from her waist and anchored her to the ground.

A huge rainbow blast fired out from the blaster, taking up most of the small cave they were in. The blast was so large that she would have been sent flying if she wasn't anchored.

The two stood in shock as the blast settled.

"Woah," Kirby said softly.

"What was that!?" Ribbon cried.

"That was awesome!" he yelled, jumping up and down.

"That was insane!" she countered. "What happened to the crystal?! Is it because of the vines? What is happening to me?"

She stared worriedly at the flower shaped blaster in her hands.

"Ribbon, look," Kirby called. "You got the sun stone out!"

He grabbed the sunstone.

"Ow! Hot! Hot! Hot!" he cried, tossing the sunstone between his hands. He slipped the stone away and blew on his hands.

"We're awesome!" he said with a smirk. "I can suck up anything and you can blast anything!"

"Kirby, I don't know if this is really a good thing."

Kirby turned to her.

"Aw, don't worry, Ribbon," he dismissed. "I get the feeling it's not permanent." He dashed past her with a grin. "Come on! Let's see what else we can do!"


With a quick jaunt through some more fields, (and a rather quick fight with a trio of angry moles.) The duo found themselves at the entrance to an underground tunnel.

"Aww," Kirby whined. The oscillating rainbow that had covered his body minutes ago was beginning to fade back to his normal pink hue. "Bye bye Hypernova." He sighed. "No more super inhale."

Ribbon gave herself a pat down. Sure enough, her own mysterious form had faded. The only trace of it was the green vine that now replaced the string holding the crystal in place. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"I think I like you being pink better," she said with a smile.

"It is a cool color," he said with an air of fake smugness as he put his hands on his hips.

She giggled.

"Come on, Mr. Cool," she said with a shake of her head. "We still have to catch up."

"Yeah."


Despite it clearly being a cave, it was still rather green.

"Ring ring!" Kirby sang as he swung the twin bells in his hands.

Somewhat early into the cave the duo were attacked by a strange new foe. Said foe was a black blob with red feet wearing a winged bell. Kirby, after saying he was gonna call it a 'ringle', proceeded to do what Kirby is know to do.

"Having fun?" Ribbon asked as they walked into the new chamber.

Inhaling the ringle gave Kirby a new copy ability. Christening it Bell, the new ability gave Kirby a large gold bell emblazoned with a pink star. This bell was worn on Kirby's head while he held two smaller gold bells in his hands.

"Ring, ring, ring!" he continued. " That sound's the bell that's gonna knock you out!"

Ribbon flinched as he let out a particularly scratchy high note that echoed around the chamber.

'Hundreds of mastered skills at his command,' she thought. 'Singing is not one of them.'

"Ring, ring, rin- Hey Ribbon, look!"

He stopped his song to point at something in the cave.

At the center of the chamber, were two familiar weapons stuck in the ground.

"It's Bandee's spear!"

Ribbon nodded. "And Pinny's needle."

One of the first things that the fairy trainees were taught was to form weapons from their own energy. The byproduct of this was that the weapons tended to take on a new form based on the person who formed it. Pin Stich's spear took on the appearance of a large sewing needle.

Said needle was stabbed into the ground at an angle forming an x with the Bandanna Dee's spear. Sheltered underneath was a bubble that held a plate of pudding.

"Bandee left us a treat," Kirby said with a grin. He stuffed the bubble into his mouth. "We'll save this for later."

"He also left us a note," Ribbon said, picking up the parchment that lay beneath the bubble.

"Oh, what's it say?" Kirby asked. "Every time someone sends me a letter, I can never read it." He crossed his arms and pouted. "Meta uses too many big words, DeDeDe's writing just looks like chicken scratch, and Bandee writes too small."

She giggled as she opened the letter. She could kind of understand what Kirby was talking about. Bandana Dee's writing was rather small making it hard to read, but Ribbon had been Queen Ripple's aid for years. This was nothing compared to trying to puzzle out a memo the queen had written while not wearing her glasses.

"Dear Kirby and Ribbon," she began. "Pinny and I are still in hot pursuit of his majesty. We'll be leaving these spots and treats for you guys to lead you along. Pinny and I will be leaving scratches along the wall to help you get through the cave as fast as possible."

"Follow the scratches, got it!" Kirby declared as he began to rush forward.

"P.S. Please be careful, as we encountered a Mr. Frosty ahead. We decided to sneak past it, but knowing you, Kirby, you won't be able to."

"Outta my way, Frosty!" came Kirby's shout from further into the cave. The sound of Kirby's bells echoed around the cave.

"Gah," Ribbon cried. "Kirby! Wait up!"