Chapter XVIII: A Nightmare on Dream Street Part III
Sora's group along with Meta-Knight made their way to the Fountain of Dreams. Once again, the heartless came at them in numbers. Sora attacked a few with his keyblade knocking them out of the way. Meta-Knight fired powerful energy waves from his sword which sliced them in half.
"How much further?" Sora asked Meta Knight as running.
"Not too far." Meta Knight responded. "We can only hope that the king hasn't gotten to the fountain yet. If he gets the Star Rod..."
"Hold the phone!" Luigi exclaimed. Everyone then stopped and turned to him. "That can't be right! The same Star Rod of my world?"
"No." Meta Knight said shaking his head. "I am aware of the Star Rod of your world. Your brother told me that there was one Star Rod but then it spilt into two. This happened when all worlds were first created. One half of the power was created from the world of dreams, while the other half created from the world of wishes. However, too many greedy people wanted the power and if it fell into the wrong hands, unpredictable things would happen from both worlds. Thus the Star Rod was separated into two. The Star Rod was kept in Dreamland and guarded by Star Warriors who received Warp Stars from the rods power. Seven star spirts guarded the Star Rod of your world. That same one that was stolen by King Bowser is twice as powerful as the one here."
"But how?" Yoshi asked curiously.
"That one was created from the power of wishes." Sora theorized. "So, Bowser could wish for anything he wants while I'm guessing the one of this world may effect your dreams."
"Correct." Meta Knight nodded. "This won't just effect us, but every other world as well. If ENeME gets his hands on the Star Rod we'll be in grave danger. Dedede is simply the puppet in ENeME and Bowser's plot."
"Then why Tiff and Kirby involve?" Yoshi said confused.
"Because only one with a pure heart can release the Star Rod from it's current location. "Meta Knight responded. "I'm not sure why Kirby's involved or why Tiff would ever fall for something pulled by the king but..." He then gasped. "Of course! Dedede must be using Kirby as bait to lure Tiff into his hands." He then ran off. "Hurry! We're running out of time!"
The group left for the Fountain of Dreams in a hurry. Meanwhile, Tiff and Kirby arrived at the Fountain of Dreams with Dedede and Escargoon hiding behind a bush.
"Kirby, are you sure about this?" Tiff asked Kirby nervously. "I heard that bad things will happen if we take the Star Rod off."
"Okay, Escargoon!" Dedede commanded. "Project your voice." Dedede waited a moment but there was no responded. "Escargoon!" He then heard snoring and turned to see the black hearted snail asleep. "Wake up you ninny!" He then conked Escargoon on the head.
Escargoon woke up and rubbed his. "Ouch! Sorry, crowny. Guess I dose off."
"Yeah? Well stop nappin and get yappin!"
Escargoon then projected his voice into the cute voice. "I'm sure Tiff. Just pull the Star Rod off of the Fountain of Dreams and may all of your dreams come true."
"Okay." Tiff said quietly. As she walked up to the fountain she could hear a voice in her head telling her to stop but she simply whisked it aside. As she reached the top of the fountain she looked at the Star Rod. Similar to the one the evil Koopa King had, the only difference was it had pink and white stripes. "It sure is beautiful." She slowly reached for it and looked around cautiously. She then pulled it out and held it in the sky. "I did it, Kirby!" Just then, the heartless appeared around her causing her to gasp. "Oh, no! Kirby help!"
Kirby bravely ran to help his friend but he then got wacked in the head by Dedede's mallet. Tiff gasped in horror upon seeing her friend faint from the attack.
"Well done, Ms. Tiffy." Dedede laughed. "You served your purpose pretty well."
"Dedede!" Tiff cried upon seeing him. "What are you doing here?"
"Taking what's mine." The King responded. One of the shadows grabbed the Star Rod from Tiff's hands and presented it to the evil king who laughed. "Finally, with the Star Rod in my hand, I can finally get the respect I deserve and it's all because of you."
"What did I do?" Tiff said with a shocked look.
"You gave us the Star Rod honey." Escargoon said slithering out from behind the bushes with the cute voice.
Tiff gasped in horror upon realizing what just happened. "No! Out of all people, how did deceive me?"
"It was too easy." Dedede laughed. "With your dear old daddy giving you all these strict orders, I knew that the stress would go to your head. So, with Kirby as part of the plan, I would get you to personally hand me the Star Rod and I thank you my dear."
"How could I've let this happen?" Tiff said putting her hands on her eyes. "Because of me, Dreamland is in grave danger."
"And now with the Star Rod in hand I shall finally rid myself of Kirby once and for all." Dedede said excitedly. He then turned to Escargoon. "Find that keyhole Escargoon." Escargoon nodded and left. Dedede fired a star out of the rod which hit Kirby sending him flying into the fountain. Kirby weakly got up and charged at the king.
Kirby sent a flying kick at Dedede who grabbed him and threw him down. Kirby bounced up from the attack and Dedede shot a giant white beam at Kirby sending him flying into to air and landed back down on the ground. Kirby weakly looked up at the king who smirked. Everything went blurry to him and soon enough he fainted. Dedede was about to deliver the finishing blow when Sir Ebrum grabbed his giant arm. Tiff gasped happily upon seeing her father.
"Daddy!" She cried.
"Get off me you old fool!" Dedede grunted. He grabbed Ebrum and smacked him aside into the fountain. Tiff ran to her father and embraced him in fear.
"Daddy, I'm sorry." She said sobbing. "I...I..."
"Don't worry about it Tiff." Her father replied with a weak smile. "I'm sorry I yelled child. I found out that a monster was tampering with my emotions. I always trust you darling and I love you. No matter what happens to us, you'll always be my daughter. The best daughter a father could ever ask for."
Tiff hugged her father and sniffled.
"I'll deal with pinky after." Dedede said to himself turning to Tiff and Ebrum. "Ebrum, how did you escape my monster?"
"Funny think old chap is that the monster hates classical music." Ebrum chortled weakly. "But you have gone too far this time!"
"Bah, it's no matter." Dedede said shrugging the monster aside. "You can't stop me now. If Kirby can't stop me then who can?"
"All of us!" Called a voice.
Dedede turned to an angry mob of Cappies with Lady Like, Tuff, and the twins standing in front of them.
"Mom! Tuff! Fololo! Falala!" Tiff said excitedly. "You came!"
"We're always here for ya sis." Tuff called to his sister. "We're going to help fight against Dedede."
Dedede then broke into laughter. "You're going to do that? Pathetic! You fools can't defeat me now." He then sent a wave at the Cappies knocking them down. He then turned back to Tiff. "Now girly, you want to see other worlds, right? Well, prepare for a one-way trip to the world of the heartless."
"Um, sire." Escargoon gulped nervously. "The keyhole isn't here."
"IT'S NOT!" Dedede shouted angrily grabbing Escargoon by the neck. "What do you mean? It's suppose to be here! My calculation..."
"Sire, you don't even know what the word calculation means." Escargoon groaned rolling his eyes. "You made a mistake, big time."
"I never make a mistake!" Dedede snarled. "I know for a fact that..." He then stopped upon hearing running footsteps. He turned to see Sora and the gang enter. "Great, just when things are starting to look good. You're a bit late boy, so why don't you turn back now? You can't beat me! Escargoon, to the tank!"
The bad guys quickly ran away and got into a mini tank that had the colors of Dedede's robe on it.
"I still can't believe you kept this thing after getting that limo." Escargoon said surprised.
The bad guys got into the tank and drove away. Sora ran up to the fountain of dreams and looked up.
"We're too late." Sora said disappointed. "He got the Star Rod."
Meta-Knight left in the shadows and his cape blew up. Luigi saw Kirby on the ground and ran over to him.
"Holy, ravioli!" Luigi cried. "This little guy took quite a beating." He took out an Elixir and helped Kirby drink it.
Sora ran over to Tiff and Sir Ebrum who were still in the fountain. "Man, are you guys alright?"
"We're fine lad." Ebrum said weakly. "I'm sorry about the way I've been acting."
"It's okay sir." Sora responded warmly. "We know that you were manipulated by the goons and that is why we stayed. We just had to help and we'd risk the rule of the world order to save you guys."
"Thank you Sora." Tiff said happily. Tiff kissed Sora on the cheek causing him to blush. "How did you guys find us?
"Meta-Knight told us."
"Meta Knight gone!" Yoshi exclaimed.
Sora turned to notice that Meta Knight was no where in sight. "I wonder where he went?"
Luigi finally revived Kirby. Upon waking up he ran over to Sora and jumped into his arms
"Kirby! You're okay!" Sora cheered.
Yoshi grumbled a bit again but then got back on topic.
"What happened here?" Yoshi asked Tiff.
Tiff explained to Sora's group what happened from Dedede tricking her to Kirby fighting Dedede..
"So, that big tub of lard tricked you into coming here." Luigi said.
"Yeah." Tiff nodded. "He's become more powerful now that he has the Star Rod in his hands. I usually never get tricked like that."
"Well kid, there's a first for everything." Luigi sighed.
"Oh, dear." Lady Like shrieked. "That terrible king! I knew he was up to something!"
"We must get the Star Rod back before the citizens of Dreamland begin having nightmares." Ebrum announced.
"I'll take care of them." Chief Bookem volunteered "I'll lock em up and throw away the key."
"Forget it Bookem." The mayor chortled. "You can barley handle traffic control."
"I resent that!" Bookem snapped.
"We'll deal with Dedede." Sora told Sir Ebrum. "We're the only ones who can stop him now!"
"Thank you child." Ebrum nodded in response. "Words alone can describe how much you've done for us already. Please be careful."
"Let's go guys." Sora told his party. The trio began to leave but Kirby stopped them. "Kirby?" Kirby made a serious look and jumped up. "I think he wants to come with us."
"But why?"
"Because he feels like he did something wrong." Tiff explained coming in. "He may be like an infant but he still knows when he did something wrong...just like me. I'm coming too. This is all our fault! We have to stop Dedede. And don't try stop me Luigi."
"But your dad..." Luigi began.
"Oh, I don't mind." Ebrum smiled. "Tiff could come up with some battle strategies for your victory against the king."
"Yeah!" The twins said together. "We'll help too. We're behind you all the way!"
"Count me in as well!" Tuff added.
Luigi put his hands in his pockets and grumbled to himself. "I liked the other Ebrum better."
"Then we'll all fight as one!" Sora cheered.
Luigi and the other kids also cheered.
"And young ones." Ebrum said stopping everyone. "The only way to weaken the power of the Star Rod is to hit it with magic spells."
"You got it!" Sora nodded. "That gives myself and Luigi an edge! Let's do it!"
Our heros headed towards Castle Dedede while everyone but Lady Like, Ebrum, and Chief Bookem left.
"Chief, could you watch over the fountain until those kids get back?" Lady Like pleaded. "I need to get my poor Ebrum to bed."
"Yes, ma'am." He saluted.
Lady Like helped get her husband back home while Bookem watched over the fountain, unaware that a weird shadow has crept it's way into the fountain. Sora, Luigi, Yoshi, and Kirby along with Tiff's group made their way to the castle. During the time they traveled, Sora found a group of the Pikmin but when they tried to run, Kirby sucked them up and gave them to Sora. (After searching through that bottomless pit known as a stomach) The heartless attacked as always and the battle was pretty easy with Kirby helping out again. Kirby sucked up a shadow and became a new form never seen known as Shadow Kirby. Shadow Kirby could blend in with the ground and surprise attack his enemies from behind. Sora kicked against a tree and slashed his way through a army of heartless that fell from the sky. He then used Strike Raid to finish them off. Luigi used his updated fire and ice to freeze and burn them. Yoshi ate them up and shot eggs out at the others. Sora also called in his three summons to help as they battled their way through. Finally, they arrived at the entrance to Dedede's castle and entered it.
"Which way to the throne room?" Sora asked Tiff as they ran down through the hall.
"To the left!" She responded.
The group headed left and up a group of stairs. Dedede was at his throne looking at his Star Rod.
"Ah, victory never smelled so sweat." He laughed. He then felt something under his throne. "Wait a minute, it's not victory there's a pie underneath my seat." He then pulled out a pie from his throne and ate it.
"You watch too many cartoons." Escargoon groaned.
"Quite, dummy!" Dedede snapped. "Now, what should I do to my loyal subjects do first? Have them all perform ballet for me? Or I could have them all destroy Kirby!" His eyes then widen. "I just got an idea!"
"Do my ear deceive me or did that walnut size brain of your just come up with an idea?" Escargoon chuckled with a grin.
"Your insults won't work on me today." Dedede laughed. "Because I'm going to have the whole town...no the whole world of Dreamland destroy Kirby."
"Not while I'm around." Called a foreign voice. Dedede noticed Meta-Knight entering the room with his sword out.
"Well, well, if it isn't a vile traitor." Dedede laughed. "What a pleasant surprise."
"Sword, Blade, and myself would never bow before you." Meta Knight said angrily. "We only did it so we could discover the truth about Nightmare Enterprises. You've been made a fool of. They're leading you right into their hands. Please hand it over to me or you shall fall before them."
"Listen my friend. You're not going to trick me into handing over the Star Rod." Dedede denying the request. "Ya got to get up pretty early in the morning to fool old Dedede."
"Or at least wait until lunch time." Escargoon snickered.
"I heard that you fool!" Dedede snapped at Escargoon.
Meta Knight took out his sword and went into a battle pose. "If I can't get through to you with words, then I'll have to fight you."
"Fighting you is a waste of my breath." Dedede chuckled. "Sword and Blade shall take care of you."
Meta-Knight's eyes widened upon seeing his closest friends, the one who's lives he once saved were both ready to attack him. He felt his heart sink that Dedede has gone to great lengths to take the Star Rod. Meta-Knight did not wish to attack the first friends he ever had. Sword knocked Meta-Knight's sword known as the Galaxia out of his hand and Blade slashed him aside into a wall. The two knights continued to slash him while he cried in pain.
"Leave him alone!" Called Tiff. Dedede turned to see Sora's group enter the room.
"Great." Dedede groaned. "It's that meddling key brat and his friends."
Sora ran over to where Meta-Knight was being attacked and kicked both blade knights aside.
"Meta-Knight!" Sora exclaimed. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine Sora, but do not worry about me." Meta-Knight coughed weakly. Tiff and Tuff ran up to Meta-Knight and helped him up.
"It's okay." Tiff sad encouraging to Meta-Knight. "We're here now!"
"Thank you." Meta-Knight said softly. Inside his mask, a tear streamed down his face as he has never seen such love from people who actually cared for him. For the first time ever he has experienced an emotion he never though possible. "Kirby! Take my sword!" Meta-Knight threw his sword at Kirby who ate it.
Kirby spun into the air and flashed. He jumped back down and was now wearing a hat similar to Link's hat.
"Where has Yoshi seen hat before?" Yoshi wondered tilting his head.
"Yeah, the hat does look familiar to me." Luigi added nodding in agreement.
Sora rolled his eyes with a chuckled. Kirby took out Galaxia and held it ready to fight.
"This would normally be Kirby's form known as Sword Kirby, but when he absorbs my sword he becomes Galaxia Kirby." Meta-Knight explained weakly. "He is twice as powerful as Sword Kirby."
"Dedede!" Luigi shouted. "Give up, fatso! You can't run from us!"
"You're finished!" The twins added.
"Not on my watch you faucet fixing feather-head!" Dedede laughed taking out his Star Rod. He fired a wave which send Tiff, Tuff, the twins, and Meta-Knight flying into a wall. A cage then fell on top of them.
"We're trapped!" Tuff cried.
"Dedede, let us out of here!" Tiff demanded.
"Sorry, sweat checks." Escargoon grinned. "We'll release you only after your four friends falls."
"Man, this is some world we've encountered." Luigi sighed. "I mean it feels like an international world. Knight boy talks like he's Spanish, that hamster sounded like he came from down under, and now fat boy sounds like a hillbilly."
"Luigi, Yoshi!" Sora called to his friends. "You two deal with Dedede while we deal with Sword and Blade."
"Great, leave it to us to fight the tougher guy." Luigi sighed.
"Luigi, we have to use magic to weaken the Star Rod, remember?"
"Oh, yeah!"
"Attack!" Dedede commanded.
Sora and Kirby clashed with both Sword and Blade. Sword slashed at Sora and he rolled out of the way. Sora clashed with Sword again and the two jumped back. Sora charged again and he jumped over the attack and kicked Sword aside knocking his sword out of the way.
"That was easy." Sora chuckled.
"Quicky! Get that thing off his neck!" Tiff instructed.
Sora used his Sonic Blade badge to zoom right through Sword and he slashed the weird collar off causing Sword to look around in confusion.
"Where am I?" A confused Sword asked. "And what happened?"
"To make a long story short Dedede had you under his control." Sora said quickly.
"Oh, well then I'll help anyway I can." Sword responded.
Meanwhile, Kirby blocked Blade's attack with Galaxia. Blade stuck hard at Kirby sending him rolling back. Kirby got up and did a handstand on his sword as Blade attacked him. Kirby slashed at Blade sending him rolling back. He got up and the two charged right through each other with a slash. The two stood still for a moment and Kirby reverted back to normal as the collar fell off Blade. Blade began mumbling uncontrollably and Sword smacked him across the head.
"What happened?" Blade mumbled in confusion.
"We were under a spell by the king but Kirby and that spiky haired kid saved us." Sword explained.
"Then let's take the king down!" Blade mumbled with a shout.
Before they could move, the heartless appeared in front of the cage hold their captive friends.
"How about after we take these creatures out and save our friends?"
"You got it!" Blade mumbled charging
The two knights charged at the heartless while Luigi shot fire and ice spells at Dedede who dodged the attack.
"Man, how can you miss something that big?" Luigi asked surprise. "He makes my brother look like he's on a diet."
"Years of practice being huge." Dedede laughed. "Is that all you got plunger head?" Dedede dodged more attacks but was too careless to realize that Yoshi had put his tongue out which the king tripped on. "Hey! Watch where you put that thing you dino runt!"
"Oh, Yoshi sorry." Yoshi giggled.
Luigi took the chance to fire his ice spell at the rod which glowed.
"Hey! Cut that out!" Dedede hissed. He then jumped back up and looked to see Sora and Kirby run up to him. "I guess you two took care of Sword and Blade, huh? Well, it doesn't matter because I'm going to take you out myself."
"Now that's a first." Escargoon muttered.
"Behold! Our fighting arena!" Dedede cried holding up the Star Rod. The group looked around as they saw the throne room change into a wrestling arena.
Sora noticed signs everywhere that said Dedede rocks. He looked down to see a picture of Dedede in the middle giving a piece sign.
"What's with the wrestling arena?" Sora asked Dedede in confusion.
"I'd figure it would be a place where your pathetic friends could watch your downfall in a big arena." Dedede chortled. Sora looked out of the arena to see audience seats filled with the twins, Tiff, Tuff, and the three knights all tied up.
"Let them go!" Luigi demanded.
"You know we said that when we fought Ganondorf." Sora pointed out to Luigi rolling his eyes. "So, you're expecting him to say sure why not? He may be dumb, but he's not that dumb."
"At least I tried!" Luigi snapped at Sora.
"Now, it's time for the fun to begin!" Dedede said as his rod transformed into a sword. "Come and get me boys!"
Sora's group charged at Dedede with full power ready to attack. Tiff's group cheered our heros on to give them strength. Sora attacked Dedede with his keyblade but Dedede blocked the attack and threw him across the arena. Sora jumped onto the strings on the end of the wrestling arena and jumped back ready to attack with a kick. The evil king dodged Sora's attack and Sora slid across the floor stopping himself. Luigi shot a fire spell at Dedede which Dedede dodged. Dedede then used his big stomach to send Luigi flying onto the ground.
"Mama-mia!" He cried.
Kirby tried to suck up the Star Rod but Dedede held onto it.
"Let me show you how it's done Kirby." Dedede smirked.
Dedede opened his mouth and sucked Kirby into his mouth which caused Tiff to make a shocked look.
"Since when does Dedede do that?" Tiff exclaimed.
"The Star Rod allows him to do almost everything." Meta-Knight explained. "So, he can use Kirby's own ability."
Dedede spat Kirby out who flew into Yoshi and they both flew back. Dedede laughed so hard that he didn't see Sora come at him and punched him in the face. Dedede went flying across the arena and got up with an angry look. He charged at Sora and they both clashed their weapons together.
"You're very persistent, aren't ya kid?" Dedede said struggling.
"Oh, yeah?" Sora struggled. "Well, you're FATTTTTTTT!"
"Grr, that's it! Nobody calls me fat and gets away with it!" Dedede shouted angrily.
"Boy, if he did get the guys who called him that, there wouldn't be any people in Cappy Town left." Escargoon said to himself.
Dedede kicked Sora in the gut who jumped back and clashed with Dedede again. Sora kicked Dedede in the face and he fell down. He got back up and threw his sword at Sora who avoided the attack. Yoshi jumped on top of Dedede and tried to grab the sword but Dedede threw him off.
"I'll finish you off first dino brat!" Dedede shouted. He fried a beam at Yoshi who tried to run but he kept slipping.
"Hang on buddy!" Sora cried.
Yoshi got scared and huddled against the edge of the arena, realizing there was nothing he could do. The beam was about to hit him when Kirby jumped in front of the attack, taking the hit.
"Kirby!" Everyone cried.
A small explosion happened from the attack and it knocked Yoshi back. He looked up at the smoke and made a guilty look.
"What have Yoshi done?" Yoshi said with guilt. "Yoshi mean and jealous of Kirby and then Kirby save Yoshi's life." He put his head down sadly. "Yoshi just big jerk."
"Poor kid." Luigi said taking his hat off. "Such a brave little puff ball."
"At long last, I finally defeated my arch-enemy Kirby!" Dedede laughed manically.
Tiff began to get really worried. "Meta-Knight, is Kirby really..."
"No!" Meta-Knight gasped in surprise. "In fact, he's completely unharmed!"
"How?" The twins asked in surprise.
The smoke cleared revealing Kirby who has the energy wave in his mouth. He spat it back out at a shocked Dedede who got hit and crashed into the ground. Luigi and Sora took this chance and attacked the Star Rod with their magic.
"Yay, Kirby!" Tiff cheered.
"He's alive!" Tuff cheered also.
Kirby turned to Yoshi with a smile.
"Kirby, I sorry for being big jerk." Yoshi apologized. "Can Kirby still be Yoshi's friend?"
Kirby smiled and put his hand out to Yoshi and the two shook hands. Sora and Luigi continued to fire magic at Dedede who finally got up and was so mad that he used his sword to knock Luigi into Yoshi who both landed outside the ring.
"Luigi! Yoshi!" Sora exclaimed. He then turned to Dedede with a growl. "You'll pay for that!"
"Well, I just wanted to even the score a little." Dedede said with a grin. "Four against one isn't very fair."
"And who said you played fair?" Tiff asked rhetorically.
"Kirby, I have an idea." Sora told the pink puff ball. "If you can copy any ability, then I want you to suck me up and copy my power."
Kirby looked oddly at Sora while Luigi raised his eyebrow.
"Have you lost it kid?" Luigi asked in shock. "You're going to let that thing eat you."
"It's the only way." Sora responded. "Kirby please!"
Kirby nodded and opened his mouth sucking Sora into it. He then ejected Sora through the back in the form of a star which transformed him back to normal. Kirby jumped into the air and flashed. He came back down holding his own keyblade and had the same brown spiky hair as Sora. Luigi and Yoshi looked at Kirby in shock.
"Whoa!" Luigi exclaimed. "He did it!"
"Which one the real Sora?" Yoshi wondered.
Luigi rolled his eyes while Meta-Knight step forward and looked up.
"He holds the power of the keyblade." Meta-Knight said. "He is now known as Keyblade Kirby!"
"I like the hair style, Kirby." Sora chuckled. "It fits you nicely."
"A pint sized keyblade master won't make much of a difference!" Dedede said charging at the duo.
"Let's take this guy down!" Sora said getting his keyblade ready.
Sora and Kirby ran at Dedede with their keyblades out and clashed with him. Kirby jumped over Dedede and slashed him from behind causing him to fall back. Sora kneed Dedede in the face sending him flying into the air. Sora and Kirby both used Strike Raid and hit Dedede from the air. The king fell down and ran at the two again. He clashed with both keyblade wielders who pushed down on his sword sending him flipping over them. Dedede got up and attacked again but Kirby tripped him and tried to grab the sword but Dedede grabbed him and sent him flying across the room.
"Kirby needs more help!" Tiff cried. She then cupped her hands together and called out. "Kabu, warpstar!"
In the distance, a giant brown Tiki like statue heard the call and responded. "Warpstar!" A giant yellow star flew out of the Tiki's mouth and flew into the arena. Kirby jumped on the warpstar and flew around Dedede. Dedede fired beams at Kirby who dodged them all with the warpstar.
"Stand still you pink pain!" Dedede said annoyed.
Sora could tell that Kirby was distracting Dedede, so he quickly attacked by knocking the sword out of his hand. Kirby flew down and grabbed the sword which turned back into the Star Rod.
"Wayda-a-go, kid!" Luigi cheered
"Yoshi!" Yoshi cheered.
"Hey!" Dedede said angrily. "Give that back!"
"In your dreams!" Sora smirked. "Hey, Kirby! How about a double Sonic Blade attack?"
Kirby nodded and hopped off the warpstar charging up his keyblade. Dedede grabbed Escargoon and put him in front of him.
"Sire, what are you doing?" Escargoon panicked.
"When they attack us, you'll be the one to take the blow!" Dedede explained. "You are my most loyalists servant so you'd protect me."
"I'm loyal, but not that loyal!" Escargoon struggled trying to get free.
Sora and Kirby both dashed at the bad guys and slashed through them four times and then they finished it with a powerful blow that sent them flying out of the castle screaming. Everyone cheered and the room returned to normal and everyone was freed. Kirby reverts back to normal and his group runs over to him congratulating him. Luigi and Yoshi ran into Sora's arms and hugged him.
"You did, kid!" Luigi cheered.
"Sora won!" Yoshi also cheered.
"I didn't do it alone." Sora chuckled pulling his two friends away. "I had help from you guys and Kirby. Thanks Kirby."
"Kirby! Kirby!" Kirby cheered.
"You rocked the house Kirby!" Tuff cheered as well.
"Hopefully, we can now bring piece back to Dreamland." Tiff said with a sigh.
"Meta-Knight, can you ever forgive us for acting..." Sword began.
"It's okay." Meta-Knight responded. "You were under a spell by the king so it's really his fault."
"We should get the Star Rod back and fast." Tiff said. "But Kirby only has one warpstar and we can't all fit on it."
Sora looked down and noticed a strange badge. He picked it up and looked at it. It had four little stars on it and under the name said "Multi-Warpstar" Sora put it on and a beam fired out of and hit Kirby's Warpstar causing it to become a giant one. The star then exploded and became four new warpstars.
"What happened?" The twins asked jumping back.
"I don't know." Sora said curiously looking at the badge. "I put this strange badge on and then it caused the warpstar to become four new ones."
"That's the rare Multi-Warpstar badge." Meta-Knight explained. "Who ever wears it causes the nearest warpstar to expand and break into four new warpstars."
"Does that mean that we get to ride our own warpstars?" Sora said excitedly. Meta-Knight nodded and Sora cheered. "Awesome! Those things look like so much fun to ride. Are they hard to ride?"
"No way!" Tiff giggled. "They're real easy to use. It will get us back there faster."
"And we'll meet you back at the Fountain of Dreams." Meta-Knight said. "Sword, Blade, let's go!"
The three knights left the room. Sora and Yoshi got on their warpstars with ease while Luigi got on with caution.
"This thing better not cause any problems like..." The star then started up and Luigi went flying across the room and flew into a wall. Everyone started laughing at Luigi who had his face in the wall. "Ugh! Stop laughing and get me out of here!"
"Right, sorry Luigi." Sora laughed.
Meanwhile, Dedede and Escargoon appeared behind a bush with dizzy looks. The two villains stood up and Dedede brushed himself off and Escargoon helped. (Not that he liked it) Dedede then rubbed his hand.
"Well, highness." Escargoon began. "In my humble opinion I think this was the most failed attempt ever to defeat Kirby."
"Silence!" Dedede snapped. "So Kirby foiled my plans again. We'll get him next time! All we have to do is order another monster and..." Before Dedede could finish, he saw the Nightmare Enterprises Salesman walk up to the Fountain of Dreams. They were surprised by a very short fact. "He's even shorter then me!" That's right because the salesman who appeared on screen looking big was actually a midget. This caused both to laugh quietly but then Dedede and Escargoon snuck up to the bushes and watched to see what he was doing. "What on earth is that short head doing here?"
"I guess he's here to tell us a short highness." Escargoon joked
The salesman looked up at the Fountain of Dreams and smirked.
"Perfect, everything is in place." He said. "That fat idiot Dedede led us right into our plans. Once those brats place the Star Rod back up, my master will grab it and use it's power to take over Dreamland."
The Salesman left leaving a baffled Dedede and Escargoon.
"Well, sire." Escargoon said in surprise. "Apparently, we've been made fools of this entire time."
"Grr, I hate it when people trick me like that and no one tricks Dedede like that!" Dedede said appalled. "Escargoon, there's only one way to get back at those punks."
"Sire!" Escargoon gasped in horror. "You're not saying that we're going to have to..."
Dedede then sighed. "I'm afraid we're going to have to h...h...h...he..help Kirby."
Escargoon fainted upon hearing those words. The gang was flying on their warpstars all the way back to the Fountain of Dreams. Tiff and Tuff rode with Kirby on his warpstar while the others rode their warpstars. Sora and Yoshi were having a ball while Luigi floated with caution. About a minute later they arrived back at the Fountain with Chief Bookem waiting for them.
"Thank goodness you kids are back." Bookem greeted them. "Now we can get this mess settled."
Everyone got off their warpstars and approached the fountain.
"Kirby, how about doing the honors?" Sora smiled at Kirby.
Kirby nodded and walked over to the fountain with the Star Rod. Just then, Dedede jumped out from behind the bushes and grabbed Kirby's feet which caused everyone to gasp.
"Kirby!" Tiff cried.
"Kirby, you got to believe me here!" Dedede shouted at Kirby. "Whatever you do, don't put the Star Rod back onto the fountain."
"And why should he listen to you when the odds of you telling the truth is one in a billion?" Tiff scoffed. "Leave Kirby alone!"
"No, no, I'm telling the truth!" Dedede protested. "I'm not letting go no matter what!"
Kirby kept dragging the fat king along until he was finally so annoyed that he used the Star Rod to knock King Dedede back. Kirby jumped onto the fountain and placed the Star Rod back on.
"We did it!" Tuff cheered.
But it was too early to celebrate because something was about to happen. The clouds grew dark and the water from the fountain turned black as night. The Star Rod flew up into the sky and a dark blue ball appeared in the sky as well laughing manically. Meta-Knight's group appeared and looked up in horror.
"What is that?" Sora asked in shock.
"That, my friend is ENeME or the Nightmare." Meta-Knight responded.
"See, I told you!" Dedede said. "And ya all didn't believe me!"
"Wow!" Tiff startled amazed. "Dedede actually told the truth for once." She then looked up at ENeME. "We have to stop him or else Dreamland is doomed."
"Leave it to us!" Sora said jumping on his warpstar. "Luigi, Yoshi, Kirby, and myself will take this creep down once and for all!"
"Be careful, keyblade master." Meta-Knight said with a nod. "He is not that easy to defeat. Thousands of us battled him and we still couldn't win. So, with only four of you, your odds are pretty great."
"We're willing to try!" Luigi said bravely.
Yoshi got on his warpstar while Kirby ate his warpstar causing him to flash. He then took out an exact copy of the Star Rod and held it up high.
"Yoshi thought there were only two Star Rods." Yoshi said confused.
"There are, but as I explained earlier, the Star Rod created warpstars which were given to Star Warriors to use." Meta-Knight pointed out.
"And I'm guessing that the warpstar has the exact same properties as the Star Rod itself." Sora assumed. "So, that might give us an edge!"
"Good luck!" Tiff called to our heros. They all nodded and flew off into space with the Star Rod helping Kirby fly. She then whispered softly. "Sora, Kirby, be careful."
In the darkest part of space our four heros arrived to see a giant blue ball with the real Star Rod right above it.
"There it is!" Luigi shouted.
"ENeME, we know all about you and what you did!" Sora pointed at ENeME. "So hand over the Star Rod or else!"
"Or else what child?" ENeME roared with laughter. "You fools don't realize who your up against. I rule Dreamland now!"
"We'll see about that!" Luigi said getting the P 3000 ready.
"Very well." ENeME chuckled sinisterly. "I shall enjoy destroying the Star Warrior who has gotten in my way for the last time and the legendary keyblade wielder!" He then spun into the air while merging with the real Star Rod and dark clouds surrounded our heros. "Dreamland and the entire population shall bow before my power!"
Sora's group flew up from the dark clouds and looked to see a giant dark blue figure who wore a giant blue cape all around his body. He also had a giant white face with a wicked smile.
"Man, that smile almost lives up to the Happy Mask Shop guy." Sora gasped. "But then again, that's just me."
He fired stars at our heros with is white skinny hand which they dodged. He shot more stars that were about to hit Sora when Kirby blocked the attack with his Star Rod.
"Here, take this!" ENeME shouted.
He fired a yellow beam at our heros which they flew around to dodge. Luigi got better at riding his warpstar so he could dodge it a lot faster. ENeME then got tired from the attack and panted.
"Now's our chance!"
Sora's group tried to attack the head but they noticed that their attacks had no effect on him. Yoshi then noticed the wind blowing and it opened a part of ENeME's cape revealing a dark wave inside.
"Look, something dark under cape!" Yoshi excitedly pointed.
Sora looked down to see the dark wave. "That maybe the weakness!" Sora flew down and hit the dark wave causing ENeME to scream. "Guys, let's attack this thing!"
Everybody attacked ENeME with full power. Sora struck, Luigi shot fire, Yoshi threw eggs, and Kirby fired stars. ENeME quickly disappeared and reappeared behind the group.
"Ha!" He laughed. The group quickly turned to see him. "So, you discovered my weakness, huh? Well, I'm impressed, I usually never have to use my full power to defeat anyone. I'm more surprised that only four of you are actually able to keep up with me. Thousands of warriors battled me and couldn't defeat me!"
"That's because we work as one!" Sora smirked with confidence. "Our friendship makes us stronger then any other force out there. You can never defeat us!"
"Your pathetic friendship can't destroy me!"
ENeME put both his out and a giant thunder spell came down from the sky and hit everyone sending them flying across the area. Sora, Luigi, and Yoshi almost fell off their warpstars but they got back on. ENeME fired more stars and Kirby deflected the attacks. Kirby flew at ENeME with the Star Rod out and shot a beam which ENeME deflected back at Kirby. Kirby took the hit and went flying back. ENeME fired another beam which caused him to grow tired and that gave Sora's group the chance to attack.
"We almost got him!"
"Ah! Stop that you fools!" ENeME cried in pain.
ENeME smacked everyone aside and fired stars that hit everybody. One star hit Sora very hardly and he fell off his warpstar.
"Sora!"
Kirby grabbed Sora by putting his hands under Sora's arms.
"Thanks Kirby." Sora sighed with relief. "Come on! Let's get him!"
Kirby and Sora flew at EMeME who fired more stars but Kirby moved Sora to dodge the attacks. ENeME got so angry that he fired a giant thunder spell that shot everywhere. Sora took out his summon gen and called on Ness by sending Luigi and Yoshi into it. Ness appeared on Yoshi's warpstar.
"Hey, Sora!" Ness said greeting his friend. "Need a hand?"
"Yeah, a giant thunder spell keeps coming down at us and we are barley able to dodge it." Sora explained.
"Leave it to me!"
"Take this boy!" ENeME shouted firing another thunder spell.
Ness put his hands out and created a giant blue wave which absorbed the attacks.
"I'm absorbing the attacks and sending their power to you!" Ness struggled. "But the down side to this is once the attack is over, I'm automatically dismissed. Some help, huh?"
"Don't worry about it." Sora smiled. "You've given us more then enough power to beat this guy!"
"Thank you and see you around."
Ness returned to his summon gem and Sora's party returned.
"Kirby! Let's finish this guy!" Sora smirked at Kirby.
"Goyo!"
Sora jumped onto his warpstar and he clashed his keyblade together with Kirby's Star Rod.
"You fools!" ENeME growled. "I've had enough of this child's play! It's time for you four to die!"
He fired another giant yellow bean while Sora and Kirby's weapons together fired a giant beam right back. The beams collided with each other with the competitors struggling with the attacks. Finally, Sora and Kirby pushed the beam up which ENeME tried to push back but it was too strong. The beam hit ENeME in the face which caused him to scream in pain. His cape flew fully open and everyone attacked his core head on. Luigi fired as much magic while Yoshi shot eggs. Sora and Kirby both gave a hard strike at ENeME which caused him to scream. ENeME flew back and put his hand on his chest and panted.
"Give up!" Sora demanded pointing his keyblade at ENeME.
The fiendish nightmare began glowing while lights all around his chest.
"H-how co-could I, the unstoppable nightmare have been defeated by a Star Warrior in training and a keyblade master?" He groaned weakly. "You may have defeated the power of the Star Rod of Dreamland but you'll never defeat the one held by Lord Bowser!"
He then exploded causing everyone to shield their eyes from the attack. The citizens of Cappy Town and Tiff's family along with the twins watched as the ray of light flashed from the sky. Everyone murmured to each other wondering what happened. Just then, everyone looked up and cheered to see Sora holding the real Star Rod waving to everybody. Kirby was on Yoshi's back hoping up and down. And Luigi was trying to act all popular.
"Thank you! Thank you!" He said proudly. "There will be an autograph signing later!"
Sora rolled his eyes with a smile. As they flew around Dreamland Sora saw all ths sites and sounds. Luigi also found a crystal and an Ansem Report left behind by ENeME. Meta-Knight looked up to the sky and had a tear coming down his face.
"Thank you, my friends." He whispered. "My fellow Star Warriors are now avenged." He then turned to Sword and Blade. "We shall find a home to settle down and start a new life now that ENeME is gone."
"And it's all thanks to Kirby and that spiked haired kid." Sword said whole heartedly.
"Thank you!" Blade mumbled.
The three knights left together knowing that they could start a happy new life. Sometime has passed since Nightmare Enterprise's downfall and all the Cappies have gone in for the night. Sora's group, Kirby, the twins, Tiff, and her family were the only ones left. Sora held the Star Rod getting ready to put it back on the fountain.
"Thank you keyblade master for everything." Sir Ebrum said to Sora. "I'm sorry about the way I've been acting. When that creature took over me I was doing the best to protect my children and it sort of got out of hand."
"Sort of?" Luigi said raising his eyebrow.
"Ignore him Sir Ebrum." Sora chuckled nervously. "He's just a bit tired from all the fighting. Aren't ya Luigi?"
"By the way Dad." Tiff began "Earlier downstairs why did you smash the crystal star up?"
"Oh, yeah!" Sora remembered. "What was so important about it?"
"Well, it was the key to revealing the keyhole." Ebrum laughed sheepishly rubbing his head.
"Daddy!" Tiff said angrily.
"Darling!" Lady Like gasped.
Sora and Luigi groaned and smacked their foreheads.
"Mama-mia!" Luigi groaned. "We had it! It was right under our noses!"
"Now what we do?" Yoshi asked Sora.
"Do not threat." Ebrum said uprising. "The Star Rod also has the power to reveal the keyhole. So, you should be able to find it."
"Where do we go to find it?" Tiff asked excitedly.
"Tiff!" Ebrum said in shock. "You should know better then that! You're a very intelligent young lady and yet you don't know where the keyhole is? It's in Kirby's secret area of course." He then turned to Sora. "Key Bearer. I have one final plea to make to you. Would you kindly seal the keyhole? I want to see that this nightmare is truly over."
"Please, don't say the word nightmare around me right now." Luigi groaned. "It was bad enough just to fight one."
Everyone started laughing and Sora's group left. Unknown to them, the NME salesman appeared behind the bushes and he muttered.
"This isn't over." He muttered. "I shall return."
He left in the shadows hoping that he will be able to seek revenge. Sora's group proceeded downstairs inside Castle Dedede until they reached Kirby's secret area. There, they walked up the engraved star. Kirby took the Star Rod and fired a beam at the engravement which revealed the keyhole.
"Kid, time to do what you do best." Luigi said.
Sora took his keyblade out and fired a tiny beam at the keyhole. Upon contact, the keyhole sealed itself which made a locked sound. Sora put his keyblade away as Tiff approached him.
"Hey, Sora?" Tiff began to ask approaching him. "Tell me what your world is like."
"Oh, yeah, about that." Sora said sadly turning to Tiff. "We're really sorry for lying to you. I would have never lied except that someone forced me to." He then eyed Luigi.
"Don't look at me like that." Luigi said innocently.
"Aw, forget about." Tuff said waving his hand slowly at them. "We forgive you. Kirby forgives you too."
Kirby jumped up and down cooing.
"I think he forgives us." Sora questioned tilting his head.
"Yeah, but if you can visit other worlds, then so can I." Tiff said happily. She then put her arms at her sides and spun around slowly. "So many places! So many people to meet! Kirby will take me there one day. Won't you Kirby?"
Kirby jumped up and down excitedly again.
"Well, do us a favor..." Fololo began with a sigh.
"...when you find it..." Falala added
"Leave us out of it." They both finished with a sigh.
"Okay." Tiff giggled.
"Well, we have to get going." Sora said stretching.
"Aw, couldn't you guys stay around for the Cappy Town parade?" Tuff moaned.
"Would to, loved to, but can't." Luigi said.
"We have our own adventure to worry about." Sora said sadly. "But we'll never forget any of you. Especially, Kirby." Kirby ran up to Sora and handed him a keychain with a star. "A keychain? For me? That's very kind of you Kirby." Sora equipped his keychain and it transformed into a yellow keyblade with a star at the edge. "Cool! I think I'll call this one, Warpstar. Thanks Kirby."
Kirby then looked up at Sora and opened his mouth. "S...S...So...Sora and Kirby, f...f...f...friends."
Tiff gasped excitedly and hugged Kirby. "Oh, Kirby! You spoke your first sentence! Sora thanks for everything!"
"No problem." Sora chuckled. "Well guys, time to hit that old dusty trail."
Sora's group said good-bye to their new friends and headed out. On the way Luigi stopped realizing something.
"Hey, I wonder what ever happened to Dedede?" Luigi wondered.
In his throne room, Dedede was talking to Bowser over his giant TV monitor and he wasn't too happy.
"You mean you were using me this entire time?" Dedede asked in shock.
"Yeah, you're too pathetic to be at our round table." Bowser laughed. "You don't even have a purpose to deserve the tile of bad guy. You even helped the good guys win a battle, so I bid you good day."
The TV then shut off and Dedede turned to Escargoon.
"Well, I'm miserable now that I lost my membership and I can no longer buy from NME." Dedede sighed sadly. "But I can still pound you for fun!"
"What?" Escargoon exclaimed. "Now wait I bruise easily!"
Dedede began chasing Escargoon around the entire castle, unknown to them that Tiff's group was watching and laughing as they ran all around the castle. Kirby was laughing so hard that he fell down and wiggled his feet in the air.