___ ___ _ __
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| | / / / \ | |
/ / / |
| | / / \_/ | |
/ / / _ |
| |/ / ___ __ ___ | |__ __ __ /
/____ / /_| |__
| | | | | |/ __ \ | __ \ | | | |
| __ | |___ __|
| |\ \ | | | / |_| | |__| | | |_| |
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| | \ \ |___| |__| |_____ / \___ |
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___ _ _____ |_____|
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|_ _| | | | ___|
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| | | |___ ___ | | _ __ _ _ ____
| | ____ _ | |
| | | _ | | --__| | | | |/ __\ | |_| | /
___| | | / _ |/ / | |
| | | | | | | |__ | |___ | / |___ | __\__
\ | | | |_| ( | |
|_| |_| |_| |____| |_____| |__| ___| | |_____ /
|_| \ ___ /\_\ |__|
______ __ |_____|
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| |____ | |____ ___ _ __ ___ ___ | |
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|____ | | ___ | / _ |/ / | |/__ \ / _
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|______| |_| |_| \ ___ /\_\ |__|
\____/|__| |_____ /
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards A fanfiction based on the video game by Nintendo/HAL Laboratories
Written by Stoney
LEGAL JUNK
Kirby, Waddle Dee, King DeDeDe, Adeline, Dark Matter, Ribbon, Rick, Coo, Kine, Gooey, and all other related people/planets/locations are copyright to Nintendo/HAL Laboratories, blah, blah, blah, blah. Sorry, but I had to write this in case some smartass lawyer decides to actually READ this 'fic. Of course, I doubt that any professional lawyer would have nothing better to do than read fanfiction, but you never know. I have the impression that you people don't care. On with the 'fic! This story is very important, and I'm only gonna write it once, so read it carefully!
Prolouge
Clear, blue skies. A few whisps of cloud, here and there. The sun shone down brightly, cheerfully, basking the entire planet of Ripple Star within its warm glow. It was a beautiful day, and Ribbon was enjoying it immensely.
"Tra la la. I love life! Dum da la dee doo..." Ribbon sing-songed to no one in particular. She was floating along above the town square of the capital city Floria, the two sets of wings on her back fluttering too fast to be seen. She had a certain destination in mind today. Up ahead of her was the Palace, where her mother, the Queen, worked and stayed. The building was incredible. Walls of white marble gleamed in the sunlight. Intricately carved statues and other decorations could be found on the outside of the building, which towered high above the other edifices in the city. Within were several floors of beautifully decorated hallways, and rooms too numerous to count. The staff at the Palace treated her like an old friend whenever she went there, so she was looking forward to this visit. Although everyone knew and understood Ribbon's positon of royalty, she was thought of as a friend and equal among the populace. Personally, she preferred it that way: modesty was one of her stronger personality traits.
Ribbon was the future princess of Ripple Star. She was a fairy, and as such was rather small. Two feet high, to be exact. She didn't mind the height disadvantage, though, since her wings allowed her to fly up to any height she wanted. She wore a plain red dress that wasn't too long, since it would get in the way of her flying if it was. Her ever-present red ribbon occupied its usual place inside her chin-length red hair. The ribbon was the reason for her nickname. Her real name was too hard for other faries to remember; it slipped her mind even now. So she simply went by 'Ribbon' instead. Nobody seemed to mind.
"La la tra la la!" Ribbon finished her song with a flourish. She was almost to the Palace now. Several other faries milled about the town square in front of the Palace, going about doing various things. Some of them bowed to Ribbon as she passed, others she knew well waved and shouted greetings. She greeted them all in return with the same calm happiness that she always displayed.
Ribbon thought back to the reason she was going to visit her mother. It was partially because she had not visited the Palace in a while, but mostly because of an event that had happened the day before.
Ribbon had been on the outskirts of Floria, in a large field of colorful flowers. She was thinking of picking a batch to take home when she noticed the sky get dark. She had looked up to find a large black cloud off in the distance, moving towards the east. It wasn't headed toward her, so she remained calm and simply watched it. It appeared to be getting larger as she looked, but it couldn't have been. It must've been her imagination.
Nonetheless, the sight of that cloud set off a tiny alarm inside her brain. She'd never seen something like that before on Ripple Star. Just looking at the cloud filled her with a mysterious unknown dread. She didn't know what the cloud was, but she knew she needed to report it to her mother anyway.
She'd arrived at the Palace entrance and was mulling over all this when it happened.
It grew dark. Very dark. So dark that it seemed like nighttime had come in an instant. Ribbon blinked and looked up at the sky, muttering, "What in the world...?"
An enormous black cloud identical to the one she had seen yesterday was descending down from the sky. From the edge of the cloud to the horizon, the sky was covered over with the blackness. The vast expansse of darkness was sweeping over the town, engulfing everything like smoke or a very thick fog. Nothing could be seen within it--it was a total and complete absence of light. And it was getting nearer.
That same strange dread filled Ribbon again. With a yell she wheeled about and flew into the Palace as other fairies ran for their own homes to seek shelter. Some unlucky faries were engulfed by the darkness, and were never seen again.
Ribbon flew as fast as her wings could carry her. She had to go get help! She paused at an intersection of hallways, wondering where her mother would be in a crisis like this. Probably in the Power Room; it was the most vital and important part of the Palace. Recalling the way there, she chose one of the hallways and continued to speed down it.
Ribbon burst into the Power Room, which housed the Great Crystal that powered the city. Her mother was there, frantically running about. "Ribbon!" She gasped with relief upon seeing the small fairy. "Quick! Take the Crystal and escape! It must not be captured by Dark Matter!"
"Dark Matter? Is that what the black cloud is called?"
Screams suddenly reached their ears as Dark Matter began invading the Palace. "Yes! Yes! Go! Hurry, and get help!" The Queen cried frantically, looking down the hallways. "Quickly! It's almost here!"
"But Mommy!" Ribbon cried, close to tears. "I don't want to leave you behind! Come with me! Please!"
The Queen paused her panicky running in front of her daughter and cupped Ribbon's face gently in one hand. She bent down so they were looking eye-to-eye with each other, and spoke seriously in a tone that could not be argued with. "Ribbon, the Crystal cannot transport us both. I am too heavy by myself for it to lift, let alone when riding with you as well. But alone you are small, and light. The Crystal can carry you." Ribbon was enveloped in a rather tearful hug. "I love you, my darling." The Queen whispered in Ribbon's ear. "I always have, and I always will. I'm sorry for putting such a burden on your shoulders, but you must go and seek help now, for the good of the planet." Ribbon wiped a couple tears away from her eyes, gulped audibly, and nodded. "Okay Mommy. I will." She whispered back.
More screams came from the Palace hallways, sounding closer than before. It reminded them both of the urgency of the situation. The queen let go of Ribbon and backed away, motioning up to the crystal. "Hurry, and get on! Dark Matter will be here any minute!"
Ribbon took one long look at the crystal, bigger than she was, and latched onto it with both hands. Her mother bent down near the crystal's base and placed both hands flat on its surface while closing her eyes and concentrating. A moment later the Crystal began glowing brightly, and the Queen stepped away. Suddenly the crystal shuddered, bunched up, and shot up into the sky at several hundred miles an hour. Ribbon's arms were wrenched terribly from the force of the acceleration, but she hung on tight. She shifted her weight a little to the left and was surprised when the crystal began to curve in that direction. She soon realized that she could steer the crystal in this fashion, and got it pointed straight up again.
The queen watched Ripple Star's last hope shoot up into the stratosphere and vanish. "Farewell...my child." The Queen whispered. Turning to face the hallways, she then waited defiantly for Dark Matter to come.
The crystal had a natural force field surrounding it which trapped air and heat inside, almost like a tiny atmosphere of its own. Ribbon was able to breathe, therefore, when the blue sky around her suddenly evaporated into the inky star-studded blackness of outer space. She could tell without even looking that she was now on level with Ripple Star's atmosphere; if she jumped off the crystal now, she'd be a meteor by the time she hit the ground. She shot off away from the planet for a good distance, then spun the crystal around and hovered for a moment, looking back at her home. What she saw burned permanently into her memory as one of the most horrific sights she would ever see.
Dark Matter had engulfed nearly the entire planet. Only a very small portion near the South Pole was still untouched, and it was slowly getting smaller. Soon, she realized, the entire planet would fall victim to the blackness.
Three black orbs of anti-light dispatched themselves from the rest of Dark Matter and began speeding in her direction. Panicking, Ribbon spun the crystal back around and resumed her original course. The orbs followed, slowly catching up with her.
Ribbon looked behind herself to see the orbs only a few feet away. All three orbs opened a large, single eye within their middles and regarded her hungrily with blood-red pupils. Ribbon looked forward again and swerved just in time to avoid a couple asteroids. The rocks flew past her and nailed one of the orbs directly in its opened eye. It didn't seem fazed in the least. She sped up, hoping to outdistance the monsters, but they kept pace with her easily. One of them dove at her. Thinking fast, she leaned her weight sharply to the left. The Crystal responded by dodging out of the way just in time and nearly throwing Ribbon off. Another orb came at her from behind, but Ribbon was too busy trying to correct her balance to see it. It grazed the crystal on one side.
The crystal began to blink and falter, slowing down a bit. Ribbon frantically tired to get it going again, but this time it wouldn't respond to her commands. With one last flicker, the power went out.
All three orbs saw their opportunity. With one giant lunge, they hit the crystal squarely, and one of them collided with Ribbon's head for good measure. The crystal cracked once, then shattered into dozens of pieces which flew in every direction. Ribbon was flung away from the point of impact into the gravity of a nearby star-shaped planet, knocked completely senseless. The black orbs remained behind and watched, content knowing the crystal was now all but destroyed, and the fairy vanquished.
Somehow, Ribbon managed to keep a tight hold on one of the shards as she fell. She sped up more and more, accelerating alarmingly down towards the planet as gravity pulled at her. She would have died a horrible death that day at the hands of heat and friction if she hadn't still been hanging onto the shard. Although the crystal was no longer whole, its natural forcefield still surrounded the individual shards. Now the field acted like a type of shield, protecting Ribbon inside as the air outside of it caught fire. Within seconds of enetering the planet's atmosphere, the field looked like a white, perfectly round fireball, leaving a red and orange trail of burning air and smoke in its wake. Somehow, the last remaining power of the shard in Ribbon's hand also gradually slowed her descent, almost like a parachute. Nonetheless, the free-fall was tortuous on the small fairy. The attack of the black orbs had nearly knocked her out, and now its effects were finally catching up with her. The world turned dark as she fainted, still clutching the shard.
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards A fanfiction based on the video game by Nintendo/HAL Laboratories
Written by Stoney
LEGAL JUNK
Kirby, Waddle Dee, King DeDeDe, Adeline, Dark Matter, Ribbon, Rick, Coo, Kine, Gooey, and all other related people/planets/locations are copyright to Nintendo/HAL Laboratories, blah, blah, blah, blah. Sorry, but I had to write this in case some smartass lawyer decides to actually READ this 'fic. Of course, I doubt that any professional lawyer would have nothing better to do than read fanfiction, but you never know. I have the impression that you people don't care. On with the 'fic! This story is very important, and I'm only gonna write it once, so read it carefully!
Prolouge
Clear, blue skies. A few whisps of cloud, here and there. The sun shone down brightly, cheerfully, basking the entire planet of Ripple Star within its warm glow. It was a beautiful day, and Ribbon was enjoying it immensely.
"Tra la la. I love life! Dum da la dee doo..." Ribbon sing-songed to no one in particular. She was floating along above the town square of the capital city Floria, the two sets of wings on her back fluttering too fast to be seen. She had a certain destination in mind today. Up ahead of her was the Palace, where her mother, the Queen, worked and stayed. The building was incredible. Walls of white marble gleamed in the sunlight. Intricately carved statues and other decorations could be found on the outside of the building, which towered high above the other edifices in the city. Within were several floors of beautifully decorated hallways, and rooms too numerous to count. The staff at the Palace treated her like an old friend whenever she went there, so she was looking forward to this visit. Although everyone knew and understood Ribbon's positon of royalty, she was thought of as a friend and equal among the populace. Personally, she preferred it that way: modesty was one of her stronger personality traits.
Ribbon was the future princess of Ripple Star. She was a fairy, and as such was rather small. Two feet high, to be exact. She didn't mind the height disadvantage, though, since her wings allowed her to fly up to any height she wanted. She wore a plain red dress that wasn't too long, since it would get in the way of her flying if it was. Her ever-present red ribbon occupied its usual place inside her chin-length red hair. The ribbon was the reason for her nickname. Her real name was too hard for other faries to remember; it slipped her mind even now. So she simply went by 'Ribbon' instead. Nobody seemed to mind.
"La la tra la la!" Ribbon finished her song with a flourish. She was almost to the Palace now. Several other faries milled about the town square in front of the Palace, going about doing various things. Some of them bowed to Ribbon as she passed, others she knew well waved and shouted greetings. She greeted them all in return with the same calm happiness that she always displayed.
Ribbon thought back to the reason she was going to visit her mother. It was partially because she had not visited the Palace in a while, but mostly because of an event that had happened the day before.
Ribbon had been on the outskirts of Floria, in a large field of colorful flowers. She was thinking of picking a batch to take home when she noticed the sky get dark. She had looked up to find a large black cloud off in the distance, moving towards the east. It wasn't headed toward her, so she remained calm and simply watched it. It appeared to be getting larger as she looked, but it couldn't have been. It must've been her imagination.
Nonetheless, the sight of that cloud set off a tiny alarm inside her brain. She'd never seen something like that before on Ripple Star. Just looking at the cloud filled her with a mysterious unknown dread. She didn't know what the cloud was, but she knew she needed to report it to her mother anyway.
She'd arrived at the Palace entrance and was mulling over all this when it happened.
It grew dark. Very dark. So dark that it seemed like nighttime had come in an instant. Ribbon blinked and looked up at the sky, muttering, "What in the world...?"
An enormous black cloud identical to the one she had seen yesterday was descending down from the sky. From the edge of the cloud to the horizon, the sky was covered over with the blackness. The vast expansse of darkness was sweeping over the town, engulfing everything like smoke or a very thick fog. Nothing could be seen within it--it was a total and complete absence of light. And it was getting nearer.
That same strange dread filled Ribbon again. With a yell she wheeled about and flew into the Palace as other fairies ran for their own homes to seek shelter. Some unlucky faries were engulfed by the darkness, and were never seen again.
Ribbon flew as fast as her wings could carry her. She had to go get help! She paused at an intersection of hallways, wondering where her mother would be in a crisis like this. Probably in the Power Room; it was the most vital and important part of the Palace. Recalling the way there, she chose one of the hallways and continued to speed down it.
Ribbon burst into the Power Room, which housed the Great Crystal that powered the city. Her mother was there, frantically running about. "Ribbon!" She gasped with relief upon seeing the small fairy. "Quick! Take the Crystal and escape! It must not be captured by Dark Matter!"
"Dark Matter? Is that what the black cloud is called?"
Screams suddenly reached their ears as Dark Matter began invading the Palace. "Yes! Yes! Go! Hurry, and get help!" The Queen cried frantically, looking down the hallways. "Quickly! It's almost here!"
"But Mommy!" Ribbon cried, close to tears. "I don't want to leave you behind! Come with me! Please!"
The Queen paused her panicky running in front of her daughter and cupped Ribbon's face gently in one hand. She bent down so they were looking eye-to-eye with each other, and spoke seriously in a tone that could not be argued with. "Ribbon, the Crystal cannot transport us both. I am too heavy by myself for it to lift, let alone when riding with you as well. But alone you are small, and light. The Crystal can carry you." Ribbon was enveloped in a rather tearful hug. "I love you, my darling." The Queen whispered in Ribbon's ear. "I always have, and I always will. I'm sorry for putting such a burden on your shoulders, but you must go and seek help now, for the good of the planet." Ribbon wiped a couple tears away from her eyes, gulped audibly, and nodded. "Okay Mommy. I will." She whispered back.
More screams came from the Palace hallways, sounding closer than before. It reminded them both of the urgency of the situation. The queen let go of Ribbon and backed away, motioning up to the crystal. "Hurry, and get on! Dark Matter will be here any minute!"
Ribbon took one long look at the crystal, bigger than she was, and latched onto it with both hands. Her mother bent down near the crystal's base and placed both hands flat on its surface while closing her eyes and concentrating. A moment later the Crystal began glowing brightly, and the Queen stepped away. Suddenly the crystal shuddered, bunched up, and shot up into the sky at several hundred miles an hour. Ribbon's arms were wrenched terribly from the force of the acceleration, but she hung on tight. She shifted her weight a little to the left and was surprised when the crystal began to curve in that direction. She soon realized that she could steer the crystal in this fashion, and got it pointed straight up again.
The queen watched Ripple Star's last hope shoot up into the stratosphere and vanish. "Farewell...my child." The Queen whispered. Turning to face the hallways, she then waited defiantly for Dark Matter to come.
The crystal had a natural force field surrounding it which trapped air and heat inside, almost like a tiny atmosphere of its own. Ribbon was able to breathe, therefore, when the blue sky around her suddenly evaporated into the inky star-studded blackness of outer space. She could tell without even looking that she was now on level with Ripple Star's atmosphere; if she jumped off the crystal now, she'd be a meteor by the time she hit the ground. She shot off away from the planet for a good distance, then spun the crystal around and hovered for a moment, looking back at her home. What she saw burned permanently into her memory as one of the most horrific sights she would ever see.
Dark Matter had engulfed nearly the entire planet. Only a very small portion near the South Pole was still untouched, and it was slowly getting smaller. Soon, she realized, the entire planet would fall victim to the blackness.
Three black orbs of anti-light dispatched themselves from the rest of Dark Matter and began speeding in her direction. Panicking, Ribbon spun the crystal back around and resumed her original course. The orbs followed, slowly catching up with her.
Ribbon looked behind herself to see the orbs only a few feet away. All three orbs opened a large, single eye within their middles and regarded her hungrily with blood-red pupils. Ribbon looked forward again and swerved just in time to avoid a couple asteroids. The rocks flew past her and nailed one of the orbs directly in its opened eye. It didn't seem fazed in the least. She sped up, hoping to outdistance the monsters, but they kept pace with her easily. One of them dove at her. Thinking fast, she leaned her weight sharply to the left. The Crystal responded by dodging out of the way just in time and nearly throwing Ribbon off. Another orb came at her from behind, but Ribbon was too busy trying to correct her balance to see it. It grazed the crystal on one side.
The crystal began to blink and falter, slowing down a bit. Ribbon frantically tired to get it going again, but this time it wouldn't respond to her commands. With one last flicker, the power went out.
All three orbs saw their opportunity. With one giant lunge, they hit the crystal squarely, and one of them collided with Ribbon's head for good measure. The crystal cracked once, then shattered into dozens of pieces which flew in every direction. Ribbon was flung away from the point of impact into the gravity of a nearby star-shaped planet, knocked completely senseless. The black orbs remained behind and watched, content knowing the crystal was now all but destroyed, and the fairy vanquished.
Somehow, Ribbon managed to keep a tight hold on one of the shards as she fell. She sped up more and more, accelerating alarmingly down towards the planet as gravity pulled at her. She would have died a horrible death that day at the hands of heat and friction if she hadn't still been hanging onto the shard. Although the crystal was no longer whole, its natural forcefield still surrounded the individual shards. Now the field acted like a type of shield, protecting Ribbon inside as the air outside of it caught fire. Within seconds of enetering the planet's atmosphere, the field looked like a white, perfectly round fireball, leaving a red and orange trail of burning air and smoke in its wake. Somehow, the last remaining power of the shard in Ribbon's hand also gradually slowed her descent, almost like a parachute. Nonetheless, the free-fall was tortuous on the small fairy. The attack of the black orbs had nearly knocked her out, and now its effects were finally catching up with her. The world turned dark as she fainted, still clutching the shard.