Chapter 4: For the Sake of Plot Devices
Oh, man, why was everything black? Ben's Kirby game on his Game boy froze, so he turned it off, and now everything is black. Did the streetlights in the neighborhood go out or something? If so, did the moon explode? It was a full moon night, after all. But everything was still dark! And he lost his balance, too. But it straightened out. And he felt like he was in bed. Did his brother Sean come pick him up; did Robert find him unconscious outside, or what? That really didn't matter. But something really was wrong.
"AAAAAHH! I CAN'T MOVE MY FINGERS!" Ben yelled at the top of his lungs.
"Calm down!" An unknown voice said to him. "Besides what are fingers, anyway?"
Oh yes. No fingers. How silly of him. You don't need to worry about . . .
"AAAAAHH! I'M GOING CRAZY!"
"Quiet down!"
"I can't feel my toes either . . ."
"Wake up, would you?"
Ben opened his eyes. He was in a bed, but this was definitely not his own house. All the features in it were rounded. Including the ceiling. Nothing was right. He turned to where the unknown voice came from. He he. He thought, I must be seeing things. That person right there looks like a Dreamlander . . .
"What were you doing out there in the middle of Vegetable garden? It's not safe anymore!"
Vegetable Garden? Isn't that an area from . . . "Uhh . . . I don't know. I just found myself . . ."
"Well, you were hurt pretty badly. I'll check up on you in an hour." The Kirby-like figure left the room.
Ok. I can think myself through this. I can cross off worst case scenario because it almost never amounts to that. Worst case Scenario: I've mysteriously transported to Popstar, become a deamlander in physical attributes, and there's no hope for me that I'll ever get back home or see Robert or Sean again.
"AAAAAH! IT'S TRUE!"
"What is it?" The kirby asked as he opened the door.
"Nothing. Nothing at all. Everything's fine. You can go now." Ben said as he stared directly at the wall in front of him.
"Uhh . . . ok. If you say so." the thing walked out the door again. Ok. Another worst possible scenario. I watched the Sixth Day. Maybe my mind was cloned and put into this body as part of some governmental experiment. No, that sounds stupid. But then so does the former explanation. Why does that seem right? Ben forced himself not to scream again. But this doesn't make any sense. Why would I be in Dreamland? Unless of course the vibrations radio wave emitted from the Game boy interfered with some natural phenomenon resulting in a rip in the time-space continuum into which I was immediately sucked. Because of the circumstances, I wouldn't remember a thing of my body being ripped apart and put back together haphazardly on another dimension . . . nah, that sounds stupid also. Unless the tabloids were right! . . . wait, they're never right. Except maybe that Batboy weds Madonna thing. He he, no.
Ben got out of the bed he was in. "Well, whatever happens, I'm probably going to die soon anyhow. Any positive outlook will hinder me from being completely sullen about my situation. And I don't even like pink." He said as he looked at his fingerless hand. Maybe it wasn't all bad. Who am I kidding? Of course it's all bad! He stepped into the next room.
"Good morning!" The kirby in the next room said. "I see that you decided to get up on your own accord. Help yourself to some pancakes." Ben looked at the huge stack of pancakes on the table. "Oh," the kirby thing said, "We haven't been introduced. My name is Leona. Who are you?"
"Uh . . . Ben." Ben said. Ok, he thought to himself in a sing-song voice, This person is being to friendly for me to be mean an gruff. I have a reputation to keep. "Uhh . . . look . . . I'd better get going . . ."
"But you must be hungry! Out there in the middle of the fields with no food on you or anything!"
The pancakes did look good. And he was a bit hungry. "Maybe just a little." He said.
Ok, maybe he couldn't stop. So what? The pancakes tasted good! But he needed to uphold a sour attitude. "Pass the lemonade." Ok. Maybe that didn't work. All he could think about was food at this point.
He suddenly stopped eating. "Umm . . . why am I suddenly not hungry?" He asked.
"Oh, you must be finished." Leona said to him. Ok, then why don't I feel gorged?" Ben thought. To many unknowns! Must . . . not . . . go . . . crazy!
"Oh, and before you go, I would like to give this to you." Leona handed Ben a backpack.
"Umm . . . thanks." Ben said. No! She's not letting me go crazy! For the sake of plot devices . . . Ben put the backpack on. It must have weighed at least half a ton! "I hope I packed enough food for you." Packed enough food? This was enough for an entire army . . . or me for a day.
"See you later." She said with a smile. Ben walked out the door bent over from the over-stuffed pack.
Aw man! She was too nice! Where's the poetic justice in that! When I mysteriously teleport to an unknown dimension, it should be in complete turmoil!
Ben looked up. Ok, maybe the nice was better after all, he thought, seeing dark black clouds roll into the skies.
"Oh, no, not this again!" Leona called from the round house. "Get inside, hurry!" Ben ran straight for the door without question.
"What was that?" He asked Leona.
"You mean you don't know?" Leona asked him back. Oh, man. Now here comes the explanation of what I don't know, and it's going to take FOREVER! Ben thought. Ben sat down on a nearby chair. Leona did the same.
"It all started ten years ago. King Dedede was furious at his subjects for not paying taxes. We didn't pay the taxes because there was no need to; he never did anything for us. He took title as the king of Dreamland without realizing what a king was supposed to do.
Anyway, beginning ten years ago, King Dedede found a power source that would grant him the power to make the people fear him. He slowly conquered country by country. Before long ago, he ruled most of Popstar."
"Why didn't Kirby stop him?" Ben asked quiziotically.
"He tried." Leona said, starting to sound sad, "When he finally reached Castle Dedede, he was never heard from again." A tear fell from Leona's eyes.
"Hey, Hey! You sound like you got the worst part of this entire deal!" Ben said to her, appalled by his own concern.
"Kirby . . . was my son." She cried again. Then she got a handkerchief out and wiped her tears away on it. Oh, no. Ben thought, Kirby is probably dead, the people are too scared to go outside, and frankly . . . Ben looked out the window at the black clouds up above . . . so am I.
Aw, shoot. I don't know what's going on anyway. What if I'm the hero in this story? "Leona . . ." Ben turned to say to her, "I'm going after him."
"You . . . what?" Leona said.
"You heard me. I'm going after Kirby, and the gods help whoever's in my way."
"Is this enough?" Ben asked Leona, who was still fitting the backpack with more and more supplies. "And be sure to put the binoculars on the outside. You never know when I might need them."
"Ok." Leona replied.
"So I'm set?"
"Kirby never left with anything before."
"Yeah, well, I'm not Kirby. I'll see you when I find your son."
"Be careful."
"I will." Ben exited out the door.
Ok. Now I start. Ben thought. And I have enough supplies for almost anything. Quite a lot of supplies. Good thing I ate before I left. I don't want to sit down anytime soon to eat. Gods know what the evil be ridden cloud does to the outside. Maybe it's like that game Legend of Legia, where all those monsters come out.
Now wait. Why in the world am I acting all out of character? Well, for one thing, I never really believed myself in that character anyway. Forceful pessimism really gets you nowhere. But the sudden attitude change? What would Robert say? What would Sean say? Well, Sean would take advantage of it as soon as possible. He would take advantage of my Dreamlander condition, too. But it's not like I'm ever going to see them again. By the gods, this seems so sullen. I can't believe just a few short hours ago I had thought this was going to be so cool, but now . . . now I fell like I'm going to throw up any second.
Ben stopped. Let's see what we can find over here. Ben took out his binoculars. Yeah . . . there's the Orange Ocean, off to one side . . . and Ice Cream Island . . . that looks bigger in real life . . . Ok, now those guys don't look to friendly. What's with them? Seems like a street gang in the middle of the gardens. And I could swear that that thing over was a pikachu . . .
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