PART 8: Cradle
Tuff watched as Dreamland was completely destroyed... he knew Tiff hadn't left... he was the only one who knew. The only one...
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The day before, he had seen Tiff erase her name from the records. He was suprised by this, and Tiff saw him and became angry.
"What do you want?" she asked. He didn't reply.
"...What are you doing?" he asked her. She stared at him for a moment, then the anger on her face vanished completely, and she began to cry.
"I'm not going, that's what I'm doing." she answered, her voice wandering. Tuff tried to say something in response, but he simply couldn't find the words. Before he knew what was happening, Tiff grabbed him firmly by the shoulders.
"Don't tell anyone I'm staying. Don't ask questions. Don't come back for me." she ordered, in a voice as firm as her grip. "I beg you...just let me stay...it's better for me." Tuff didn't respond, he just nodded.
"Thank you..." she said simply, before walking away.
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She hadn't even said goodbye.
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"Floating in the sky,
Surrounded by the dead...
Your quest has not ended yet,
And we place this gift upon your head."
Kirby awoke with a start. He was floating above the clouds...no black fog...no dead Meta Knight...no destroyed Pop Star...he was surrounded by a million singing fairies, hand in hand, spinning around him. Floating above him was an enormous medallion, although he couldn't tell what was engraved on it.
"Heaven?" Kirby asked in awe. At these words, a fairy appeared in front of the medallion. It was smaller than he was, with a red dress and pink hair.
"No, Kirby, this is not heaven...not exactly." she said, her soft voice seeming to echo around the room...if it wasa room. Kirby opened his mouth to say something, but the fairy flew closer and put a finger to her lips.
"No questions." she whispered. "Only answers." With that, the fairy grabbed the medallion with one hand and began to spin the other hand around in circles. The very fabric of the air itself began to rotate around and around her hand like a whirlpool, until a hole appeared in the air. The medallion began to glow and an image of Tiff appeared. She was holding a small pink doll that looked a lot like him and staring out the window in awe.
Seconds later, Tiff got onto her knees and the wall exploded. Kirby heard her say "Forgive me...everyone..." just before it exploded, and then she forgave something else and he watched as she jumped off the edge of the castle wall.
As Kirby watched in shock, she fell from the castle wall and right into the fog, which immediately swallowed her alive. Her doll was not swallowed, though, but rather, a bunch of clawed hands appeared in the fog and began to ferociously rip the Kirby doll apart...to Kirby, this was eerily symbolic...and very frightening.
The next image he saw was of a giant silver ship floating in space above Pop Star, now an inky black rather than a cheerful yellow. The image afterwards showed Tuff, watching this through the window of a room in the ship.
Kirby realized it then...all his questions had been answered. Tiff, instead of going to the ship, had waited for him to return until the very end...which must mean he was dead...
"You are not dead." interrupted the fairy, reading his thoughts. Kirby shuddered at this, and then sighed. It was all his fault...he let his anger cloud his mind...
"You still have a chance. You have three days to save your home..." she said, interrupting his thought again. Kirby started to interrupt her himself.
"You can not bring her back, Kirby." the fairy said, reading his thoughts again. "But do not let her death be in vain." Before Kirby could say anything, the fairy put the medallion around his waist and put a finger to his lips. She held out one of his hands and clutched it. When Kirby opened his hands again, he saw the doll of himself. Kirby stared at it in shock...somehow, it was still there...
"May the memory of the one you treasure be your strength, and may this medallion bring you light where there is none." the fairy finished, clapping her hands together. With a flash, Kirby vanished.
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Dedede sat in his throne...in his own enormous royal escape ship, red and orange with the familiar symbol of a white rabbit on the top. The escape ship was as large as a rocket, equipped with everything his original castle had had. You could almost say Dedede was preparing for this for a long, long time. Dedede sat on his throne and pressed a button.
An enormous television rose from the ceiling. It flashed on, revealing a man in a dark blue suit, wearing a purple tie over an orange shirt. He had straight green hair, glasses with oranges lenses, and pale skin. Words above him read "Holy Nightmare". Dedede smiled.
"Welcome back, Dedede." said the man, who was only called Salesguy, AKA Customer Service. "What can I do for you today?"
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Rain fell against Kirby's face, sliding down his cheeks and forehead like sweat...it was falling with his tears. He was looking at the sky, crying, holding the doll of himself in his hand. A golden medallion with a tree engraved on it was around his waist, glowing, revealing some light even in the darkness... the black, endless fog... and the desolate planet he had once called home.
It was raining endlessly, and Kirby knew he had something to do. But he wasn't sure how many people would die in the process... he would rather die first...
A lightning bolt split the sky..the fog was ever moving. Kirby walked onwards, knowing where he needed to go...
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Dedede continued to smile.
"You can tell me what you think you were doing when you sent out the Black Fog. And you can tell me everything about it." Dedede demanded. Salesguy looked shocked.
"We couldn't have released anything. We just got back...just now." he said, remaining calm.
"Tell me about the black fog, then." Dedede ordered.
"Fine...fine...as you wish. The black fog is part of a powerful creature called Dark Matter....I know you've heard of him. They are not one and the same, though." explained Salesguy. "They are part of each other, yes, but not the same...."
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Kirby was lost. The Fountain of Dreams couldn't possibly be destroyed, but he couldn't find anything on the planet... and he only had three days before the black fog escaped. Kirby didn't recognize anything...
Out of nowhere, something flew at him and hit him in the head... it looked to him like the remains of a cradle... it was empty, though, except for some blankets and was probably the last thing left on Pop Star. So to him, this was a sign...
Of death and rebirth. Of losing something and finding it again. Of everything this quest stood for. Kirby pressed on, more determined than ever.. the cradle disintegrated into dust as it flew back into the fog.
"Cradle..." Kirby whispered, walking towards the place it had come from.