Legal:
Kirby and related things are owned by HAL Labs and Nintendo
The Parodius series and all things related are owned by Konami
Dew the character and this fanfiction belong to ME, Star Eater
Anything else belongs to their respective creators
Tales of Pop Star: Acceptance
By: Star Eater
Chapter 1: Discovery
Acceptance.
A word that is used to say that something has managed to act as though the thing in question is its own. Free from the suspicion and sometimes fear that may accompany an unknown object.
But it is also a word that can mean safety and freedom. This word, therefore, holds great meaning to those who value it.
A society who does not value acceptance, however, will eventually fall...
"3.. 2... 1... Capsules successfully launched."
The officer smiled at those words. The capsules that contained his society's future had now been sent away to inhabit a planet in a different solar system. A planet, free of a sun that was soon going to explode and destroy everything in its wake.
"Sir..."
The officer turned to his assistant. "Yes?"
"Those capsules... no doubt they are going to reach their destination... But, what if the inhabitants of those capsules die before they build the planet in their... Our image?"
The officer chuckled. "Do not worry. Their genetic material have been slightly altered, so they have all the time in the universe to complete their task. Besides, the virus they have will guarantee their survival."
The assistant seemed to accept this answer.
"I hope... those kids will have a good time living..." the officer thought as he looked at the sun, which was going to supernova any minute.
The violent, old sun struggled for its life as the capsules fled from it. The sun seemed to know that there were capsules which contained life, because it was showing more signs of struggle than a normal, old star.
Eventually, death overpowered the weak sun. The sun exploded, taking the planet and its inhabitants with it...
The capsules were racing away from the supernova, and didn't seem to have any problems outrunning the nova. However, one capsule was having problems keeping up with its brethren. The computer onboard tried to increase the speed, but it couldn't do so without compromising the safety of its fragile cargo.
The other capsules have now moved far beyond the range of the supernova and are now on course for the planet which they would inhabit and rebuild the now extinct society. The one capsule was behind, and was still in range of the nova. The computer couldn't move the capsule any faster.
That capsule was hit by the nova. Even though the distance of the capsule from the sun weakened the nova significantly, it still caused a lot of damage to the capsule. The computer desperately tried to save both itself and its passenger, but the damage was too severe. The power was damaged heavily, and there wasn't enough for both the computer and life support.
So the computer made a selfless sacrifice. It shut itself down, leaving the life support running.
By now, the capsule was off course. The other capsules are on their way to inhabit the planet, but this capsule is now floating in space.
The old ship known as Vic Viper was on one of his periodical patrols for its creator, the Vixen Space Agency. Because Bacterion could try to invade Gradius again, he had to report anything he saw to the agency.
Nothing to report so far, Vic Viper thought. This is a bit boring actually. I wish there was something to report, just so there is a change of pace.
Vic Viper's wish came in the form of a cylindrical object which zoomed right past him, nearly hitting him.
"Vixen Space Agency, there has been a small object heading into some unknown territory," Vic Viper reported, doing a few scans in the process.
The lieutenant in charge of the nearest space station owned by the Agency gave out Vic Viper's next order. "Follow that object. Don't let it out of your sight, and give any information that you can get from it to us."
Vic Viper dutifully carried out his orders.
It was a peaceful day in Dream Land. Kirby had gone on a picnic with his friends, and they were having a jolly good time. King Dedede had eaten what was left over when Kirby inhaled most of the picnic's contents, so Adelaine had to paint food for the remaining people who had come on the picnic.
"I KNEW we should've brought more food with us..." Waddle Dee grumbled.
"Oh, stop worrying!" Gooey retorted. "Adelaine here is making some more! There's enough for everybody!"
"I doubt I'll ever be able to make enough for Kirby, though..." Adelaine said.
"HEY!" Kirby shouted indignantly.
Suddenly, a bright light started shining over the group.
King Dedede was puzzled. "Kirby, did you use your Light ability again?"
"No, I didn't."
"Well, what's making that light?"
"I don't know what's making that light," Waddle Dee said, "But what ever it is, it's... it's..."
"It's WHAT?!?" King Dedede shouted impatiently.
"...IT'S COMING THIS WAY!!!! RUN!!!!"
*BBBAAARRROOOOOOOMMMMM*
When the dust cleared, Kirby and company stepped out from behind the hill that they used to hide from whatever the thing was.
"What... is... that?" Gooey spoke.
"It looks like a capsule of some sort!" Adelaine replied. "Wonder what's in it?"
"Let's open it up!"
"Let me do it, Dee."
"Why, Kirby?"
"Because I don't want anyone else to be in trouble if that thing's dangerous," Kirby replied. He crept close to the capsule. After poking it with Sword to make sure it wasn't dangerous, he used Needle to pry it open. Kirby got drenched in an unknown liquid for his efforts.
"YUCK! I'll need to go swimming after this!"
Waddle Dee saw something else in the capsule. "What... what is that?"
Adelaine looked closer. "It's.. it's..."
The liquid drained out of the capsule completely.
"It's a person!"
So, that capsule had a lifeform inside of it... it crashed on an unknown planet as well. Interesting... I'll have to inform Vixen right away.
Vic Viper took himself out of Pop Star's orbit and flew for the Vixen Space Agency.
Chapter 2: First Steps
The meeting hall of the Vixen HQ was filled with high-ranking Space Agency officials, but it also had the current Parodius team in it: Pentarou, a blue penguin; Hanako, his pink, female counterpart; the four little "stickmen" Soitsu, Doitsu, Koitsu, and Aitsu (which were cyan, orange, blue, and pink respectively); the three Donburi Island ships, Twinbee, Winbee, and Gwinbee; a male red octopus called Takosuke and a yellow female octopus named Belial; and finally, the four ships that were responsible for the latest defeat of Bacterion - Vic Viper, Lord British, Jade Knight and Falcon Beta.
Vic Viper began the meeting. "I have found that the capsule that was reported to be going through our space has crashed on an unknown planet. But what is of greater concern is what was inside the capsule.
"A person was inside the capsule."
"What did this person look like?" Jade Knight inquired.
"This person looked to be in his twenties. He has short, golden brown hair, purple eyes, beigish coloured skin and is approximately six feet in height. A bio scan revealed that this person is human, but his genetic structure has been changed.
There is also a virus present in his body. What this virus can do I am not exactly sure of, but it seems to be able to manipulate the atomic structure of matter."
"An agent of Bacterion, perhaps?" Pentarou asked.
"Highly unlikely. If Bacterion wanted to invade this planet, he wouldn't use a single person. He'd want to use his big army of ships and assorted shit," Soitsu answered.
Falcon Beta had something to say. "Still, we can never be too sure. Bacterion can and will be cunning in his tactics. We must make sure that there isn't any threat to this planet, lest Bacterion uses it to further his little war against the people of Gradius!"
Hanako was the next to speak. "But what if this person is an innocent? We can't just go to the planet and knock him off!"
"In that case, we must make sure that this guy is an innocent and not Bacterion's bitch," Koitsu spat.
That wasn't a good image! Belial shuddered.
"Then, how about we spy on this guy? We'll monitor him for any suspicious behaviour 24/7!" Suggested Twinbee.
The others thought that was a good idea. They agreed that one member of the Parodius team would be taking shifts to monitor the individual in question, starting with Aitsu.
They began right away.
Meanwhile, Kirby looked at the person with worry. "Do you think he's evil?"
The person responded by giving Kirby a blank look.
"Um, I don't think he's even there."
"That's not nice Waddle Dee."
"Well he IS, Adelaine!"
Kirby poked the person in the chest. The person looked down, but said nothing. Kirby then walked a few feet away, and asked, "We'd like to know who you are."
No response.
"Can you move?"
Still no response.
"Um... can you even talk?"
The person looked at Kirby sadly.
"I don't think he knows how to do ANYTHING!" King Dedede huffed. Adelaine painted a two ton weight above his head for that insult. "OW!"
"Then, we'll teach him!" Gooey suggested happily. "First, we'll teach him how to do everything he should know!"
Kirby was pleased. "Good idea!"
And so, they began to teach the person the essentials of being an educated person. They taught him how to walk, talk, speak and write their language, how to dress and eat, how to get food, how to socialize, even did some toilet training. But the one thing that was the most important, however, was that Kirby gave the person a name.
Flipping through a baby book, Kirby said, "I will call you Dew, for you appeared out of nowhere."
"Dew," Dew repeated.
"Aitsu, report."
Aitsu had returned from her shift and was now telling them what information she had gathered. Or to be more precise, Vic Viper asked for it.
"Well, from what I know so far, this guy is pretty harmless. He was just like a baby when he first met the planet's native species, but now, let's just say he did a lot of growing up. He even has a name - the inhabitants call him Dew."
"Dew, huh? Well, I think he's an innocent enough guy," Gwinbee said.
"I doubt it!" Takosuke argued. "He could just be playing possum for all we know!"
"I hate to say it, but Tako's right," Belial agreed.
"All right... Belial, you can have the next shift."
"Thank you, Vic Viper."
Chapter 3: Suspicions
The next few days saw Dew socializing with some of Dream Land's residents. He was busy trying to make a good impression on the local people, but unfortunately some of them did not take a liking to him.
"He is a bad omen! He should leave this place!" One such resident declared.
"But you don't know him yet!" Another resident protested.
This caused a big controversy among the people of Dream Land. There were people who said that Dew was bad news, and people that thought otherwise.
"The latest report shows that Dew is causing quite a stir on this planet. The planet is called... Winbee?"
"Pop Star."
"Of course. Some people don't seem to like him - they think he isn't a good being."
Doitsu made a suggestion. "Vic Viper, perhaps if we get closer to this individual, we may be able to discern his innocence."
"Very well, Doitsu, I have a special task for you.
"Lord British here has delivered the latest invention of the Vixen Space Agency. This 'Bullshit Detector' does exactly what you'd expect. Take it down to Pop Star, and use it to see if Dew is anything but a harmless being."
"I should be the one doing this. I can do it better!"
"Give the BS Detector to me, Lord British. Vic Viper chose me."
Lord British reluctantly gave the BS Detector to Doitsu.
That night at Kirby's house, Dew asked Kirby why some of the people didn't seem to like him.
"You are different from them, Dew."
"But why? I didn't do anything to hurt them."
"I know. It's just that... some people are shallow and judge by appearances."
"That's bad, Kirby. They don't know me yet."
Kirby sighed. "Well, just get some sleep."
Kirby left for bed. Dew got into his bed and went to sleep. Unbeknownst to Dew, someone was watching him.
This is good. The Bullshit Detector didn't go off once. I beginning to think Dew is just a mishap and not Bacterion's minion.
Doitsu jumped off the window and on to her paper airplane. She flew and hid in the bushes (something she didn't get the chance to do earlier) and put the BS Detector beside herself. She then put her airplane away and was going to sleep when suddenly, two of Dream Land's citizens walked by. They were gossiping.
"So, you think this Dew is a bit strange?"
"Yeah. I mean, he is much different than Adelaine. I don't know what to make of him."
Doitsu sat still, making sure to be silent.
"Know what I heard? I heard Dew crashed on this planet! He must be an alien!"
"If he's an alien, then that means he's gonna invade our planet and turn us into slaves!"
"No, you-"
The citizen never got to finish that sentence.
*BBBUUUUZZZZZ! BULLSHIT! BBBUUUUZZZZZ! BULLSHIT!*
Oh no. Those two assholes set off the Bullshit Detector! I'd better get it and myself out of here before the whole planet wakes up!
Doitsu picked up the BS Detector and flew back to the Vixen Space Agency. Unfortunately, the BS Detector not only scared the living shit out of the two citizens, but woke up the inhabitants of Dream Land as well.
Dream Land was in a panic. After hearing the noise near Kirby's house last night, the two witnesses were questioned. The things they said would make the BS Detector explode.
"HE WAS SCARY!"
"HE WAS GONNA SUCK OUR BLOOD AND USE OUR SKIN AS RUGS!"
Etcetera, Etcetera. Of course, some of the people didn't believe the story. Unfortunately, the majority of the people did.
"WWWWWHHHHHAAAATTTTT???!!!"
"That's what happened!"
"Why didn't you turn the BS detector OFF?!"
"I didn't know those two were gonna say that!"
Everyone was mortified at Doitsu's story. Jade Knight was pretty miffed.
"Great.. Just great. With that thing around we risk being detected!"
Vic Viper rallied everyone. "All right. I want several teams out on the planet looking for anything bad that may have happened! Who knows what that thing could've done!"
That, they did.
Chapter 4: Persecution
Kirby took Dew away from the mob that was forming in front of his house. He secretly snuck out the back door with Dew and ran off into the nearby woods.
"Kirby, what's happening?"
"I don't know, but it's bad, I know that much!"
However, the mob was closing in on them. Eventually, Kirby and Dew came to a cliff. Kirby could very well fly away, but Dew couldn't and Kirby didn't want to abandon Dew.
"Why do try to save that monster?"
"He's NOT a monster!" Kirby yelled back in defiance.
The leader of the mob didn't accept that answer. "He nearly killed our people! Two people were almost slain by that... that... FIEND... last night!"
"Those two exaggerate ALL the time!"
"Stop arguing. Hand it over!"
"No!"
"Kirby, you have done us a lot of great services over the years and saved our planets from many evils. But now, you are trying to keep such an evil in this planet! Give us the monster, and we will let you live."
"You're nuts. You have no proof, and those two are lying!"
The mob closed in.
"Oh... my... GOD..."
"We gotta do something!"
"But what?"
Falcon Beta told everyone to quiet down. The Parodius Team had seen what had happened, and by now they know that Dew is harmless - otherwise, that mob would've been long dead.
"Here's the plan. We take the BS Detector and all of us to that cliff and tell them what really happened."
"WWWWHHHHAAAATTTTTT?!? But we'll give ourselves away!" Lord British yelled.
"We have to! If we don't stop that mob, that kid dies, along with an innocent bystander! Doitsu, you tell them the real story. Bring the BS Detector with you."
"Why me?"
"Because you were there and we weren't."
Vic Viper agreed. "Let's go."
"Kirby... I thought you were once a hero. But now, you are just as evil as that monster!"
"Do you know just how STUPID you're acting? You have no evidence!"
"Those two are plenty of evidence."
"Those two will make up anything!"
"LET'S GET'EM!"
The mob charged. They were about to reach Dew and Kirby when suddenly, someone shouted.
"STOP!"
The mob stopped and looked towards the source of the voice.
And when they did, their opinion on Dew would change forever...
Chapter 5: Acceptance
Because the Parodius Team intervened and Doitsu told the mob the truth, Dew was saved.
Not only did the mob break off their attack, but those two gossiping citizens were severely punished for their misdeed.
Meanwhile, Pop Star was being shown the big floating force that is the Vixen Space Agency, and the inhabitants of Pop Star marveled at the alien society which was showing them their history, including the ongoing war with Bacterion.
"Why did I look dangerous?"
Vic Viper told Dew all about their suspicions about him being a possible enemy. Once everything was settled, Dew was finally accepted in society. The Parodius Team took Dew, Kirby and friends around their little corner of space. Naturally, they were amazed.
Vic Viper resumed his patrols and Pop Star now has a space port, so both inhabitants of Gradius and Pop Star could go between the two worlds.
What was most important, however, is that both societies had learned to accept...