Chapter 27: Poppy Bros. Jr.
It was late at night in Dreamland. Normally at this time everyone would be fast asleep, but for one young resident, he had other things to worry about. This was Poppy Bro Jr., and he was in the process of setting up a large circus tent. He had always wanted to run and headline a circus show and now was his chance.
"And thattttt should do it!" He exclaimed as he saw everything was set up. "Oh man I can't wait to perform for everyone! It's gonna be a blast! Buuuut, there's no way I can do this alone... I'm gonna need help. But from who?"
After taking a few moments to think, a light bulb exploded in his head, prompting him to smile.
"I think I'll give my old pink friend a visit first thing in the morning l!" He exclaimed, hopping around in excitement.
The next morning, Kirby was slowly getting ready for the day. He didn't have any plans made nor any chores that needed to be done. While he enjoyed the freedom that came with that, he was already pretty bored and hoping something fun would happen today. Little did he know, that his desire for something fun was about to be granted. By the sound of something exploding outside his house. In a panic, Kirby ran outside to see what happened, only to find that there was no damage and that a certain bomb expert was waiting for him.
"Ah! Poppy Bros Jr! What was that explosion I just heard?"
The young bomber smiled. "That was me getting your attention!"
The puff then blinked. "What for?"
"I'm glad you asked!" The jester yelled and then pulled out a chalkboard from seemingly nowhere. "You see, I'm running a circus tomorrow! Buuutt, I don't have anyone to perform alongside me. I might be talented but there's nooooo wayyyy I could entertain the whole crowd with just myself. Soooo would you help me, Kirby!? You're the best person I can think of!" He asked while making chalk drawings of the circus tent, himself and Kirby.
"I'd be glad to help! Just let me grab the Circus Ability beforehand!" The puff exclaimed.
He then ran back into house, excited by the idea of performing and using his Copy Abilities to make people smile.
At the circus tent, Poppy decided to show Kirby, who now had the Circus Ability, what to expect.
"So, we have simple stuff like tight ropes, unicycles, cannons, a tank with live piranhas, a trapeze..."
"Wait, Jr., What was the last thing?"
"A trapeze. Why?"
"No, before that."
"A tank with live piranhas."
"Ok, that's what I thought you said. Why!?"
"Why not? Wouldn't it make the show much more exciting?"
Kirby facepalmed. "I can't argue with that, I guess, but it's dangerous!"
"That's the fun part!"
"What will you even do with them?"
"That's simple! I'm going to lock myself in a box filled with water and after a minute the piranhas will be unleashed. So, I have a minute to escape before I'm viciously torn apart!" He said without an ounce of fear.
"But... but that's ridiculous! Wouldn't your brother be worried if you failed?! Maybe you should pick something that isn't dangerous like nonaggressive fish!"
His friend pouted. "But a safe fish isn't exciting! It neeeeds to be exciting for the show to be entertaining!"
"I'm sure you can find something else exciting that also won't get yourself hurt." Kirby said before then quickly taking a moment to think. "Like... like... how about I get Kine to dress up as a shark or something!?"
Poppy Jr. stopped to think. "Well, it wouldn't be exciting, but it would be extreeemley hilarious, thus the audience will be entertained. Sure, let's go with that!"
The puff smiled in satisfaction. Though that then gave him another idea. "If you want, I can ask if Rick and Coo want to participate as well!"
"Well, I'm not sure what they can do to help, but sure! The morrrre the merrierrrr!" His friend replied while jumping for joy.
"Well, they can do more tricks to make the show more interesting!"
Poppy Jr imagined Rick on a unicycle and immediately started laughing. "Well then, let's call them uppp!"
Kirby nodded and dialed them up on his cell phone. "Hey Rick! I have a favor to ask. Would you, Kine and Coo be willing to help Poppy Bros Jr with his circus?"
"Well, sure, mate! Me and the guys don't have anything going on. You two up for that?" The hamster asked his two compatriots.
"Sure!"
"Why not?"
The puff heard those responses from the other side of the phone.
"Well, there you have it mate. Where's this circus at anyway?"
Kirby paused to think. "It's right outside of the city. You can't possibly miss it!"
"Ok, mate! We'll be there in a jiffy!" With that the jolly hamster hung up.
The puff then turned to his friend. "So, what now, Jr?"
"Well, thaaat's easy. I wanna see how high I can get with this cannon!" Jr exclaimed before he jumped into the cannon without waiting for a response. "Alright, myyy friend, shoot me!"
The puff blinked for a moment. "Huh? Why!?"
"Well, I can't aim and fire the cannon if I'm in it silly."
"But do you have a safe place to land?"
"The ground is pretty safe and nice. I sleep on it a lot." He said, clearly not understanding how dangerous landing on the ground would be.
"It isn't if you're slamming into it at several miles per hour!"
"Well, you can make a balloon for me to bounce on can't yaaaa?"
"Hmm... I don't know if it'll work."
"Oh. Well, you can catch me! I trust you."
Kirby was hesitant but knew Jr wouldn't take "no" for an answer no matter what he said. Begrudgingly, he agreed and walked to the cannon.
"So where am I aiming?" He then asked.
"That's a good question!" His friend responded happily.
The puff sighed.
"I'll just shoot straight up. Maybe angle it a bit downwards so that he doesn't go through the big top, literally." He thought to himself.
After angling the cannon's trajectory, he then called out to his friend.
"Ok, are you ready Jr?"
"Mooreee than ready!"
Kirby fired the cannon and sent Jr flying.
"Woooooah, is this what flight feels like? This is awesome! I'm so high up! I can even see my house from here!"
"I'm sure you can! Can you see my house!?"
"Sure can! Oooops! Now I'm falling." He said in his usual carefree tone.
Shortly after that statement, he landed back in the cannon.
"Are you ok?" Kirby asked.
"Ok? I'm more than ok! That was GREATTTT!"
The puff gave a sigh of relief. "What's next? Hopefully nothing life threatening."
"How about jumping through a ring of fire?"
After hearing that, the child smiled. "I can do that no problem thanks to my Circus Ability!"
"Well, how 'bout you shooow it off!"
Nodding, Kirby summoned five burning rings of fire and effortlessly jumped through them thanks to his natural agility. His friend clapped the moment that he completed the trick.
"And now, it's time for the lion taming!" Jr shouted.
"The what?" Kirby questioned, to which Jr then revealed a cage with an incredibly hungry-looking Fire Lion in it. "Jr, how and why do you even have that!?"
"It's for the trick! Why wouldn't I have it!?"
Before Kirby could have a migraine, he heard the familiar footsteps of a certain hamster.
"Heya, mate! We're here just like we said we would!"
"Rick! Kine! Coo! Glad to see you guys made it!" The puff exclaimed happily.
The animal trio smiled broadly.
"So, what do you need us to do mate?" Rick asked.
Jr then dashed in front of them. "Heyaaa guys! Rick, do you know how to ride a unicycle and or juggle?"
"Oh yeah, mate! I can do both!" The hamster replied in a jolly tone.
"Excellent. Kine, would you mind wearing a shark costume?"
The fish looked confused. "Um... sure? But why?"
Seeing this, Kirby decided to explain for his friend. "He wants to do a trick involving piranhas trying to eat him and I told him that's dangerous and..."
"Say no more. I don't want those piranhas causing any harm. Or potentially blowing up."
The puff nodded, seemingly knowing that would likely be the backup option his friend would have.
"What about me? Surely there's something only I can do for this show." Coo asked.
Then the child took a moment to think.
This time, Kirby spoke up with his suggestion. "How about I copy the Parasol Ability for part of our performance, and we spin around! That would be entertaining!"
The owl took a minute to think. "Alright. That certainly will be entertaining. Perhaps I can also with safety precautions. I can fly and grab someone should they happen to fall a great distance."
Jr nodded at that. "Sure! It'd be greeaaatttt to have someone catch me if I somehow lose consciousness while in the air!"
The animal trio just stared confused at Jr. They, like many of others in Dreamland, did not know how to handle his strange sense of humor and personality. Though despite all that, they were his friends, and nothing would keep them from helping out.
"So, I guess we should all rehearse our routines. Speaking of which, Jr what do you want me to do besides jumping through hoops?" Kirby asked.
More than likely that wouldn't be enough to entertain the crowd.
"Welll, you can make balloons, right?"
"Yup, I can also jump on trampolines!"
"Then I have an idea. Jump up high with a trampoline and make as many balloons as you can in midair before you reach the ground!"
Kirby thought about it. It wouldn't necessarily be dangerous, and it could be a fun test of his balloon making.
"Sure, sounds like a blast!" He exclaimed.
"Ok, then that settles it!"
With everyone knowing their roles, they all started practicing.
After a few minutes later, another conversation popped up.
"Hey, Jr, where is your brother anyway?" Kirby asked as he got the Parasol for his practice performance with Coo prepared.
"Oh Sr? He would be here helping, buuuuut he caught a cold. It blows but hey, that's just how it is." Jr explained in his usual cheery tone.
Kirby though was concerned. "How bad is it?"
"Hmm? Oh, you mean his cold? It's nothing to worry about. He told he was feeling better today than he was yesterday. He shouuullld be completely better by tomorrow. Now come on, we have practice to do!"
The rest of the group nodded and began to work on practicing together.
After a few hours, everyone had gotten the routines all figured out and ready for tomorrow. Well... except for one.
"Oi, mate, what exactly is the fire lion for again? I didn't see anyone practice with it." Rick asked Jr.
"Well, that's simple. One of us will be fighting it! The crowd loves violence!"
Everyone just stared in disbelief.
"...well, who'll be fighting it then?" Coo then asked.
"I don't know! It'll be completely random!"
The puff then raised a hand. "I can do it!"
"Well, duh, I know you can. All of us could. That's why deciding at random will be more fun!"
Kirby shook his head. He could agree that everyone here could handle it, but he didn't want anyone to get hurt because of it.
"How will you be deciding who fights then?"
"I dunno!"
The child sighed, then got an idea. "How about I put all of our names in a hat and the name that gets picked has to fight?"
"Sure, guess that'll work." Poppy replied with a shrug.
Kirby smiled, planning to make the only name in the hat his. He didn't like tricking his friends, but this was for the best.
"...which is why I already have a hat with our names!" His friend suddenly said.
"Wait, but you said you didn't know what method to use..." The puff uttered, royally confused.
"Well, yeah! That's 'cuz I was unsure if I wanted to use a hat or spin a wheel! I already had both set up!"
Kirby sighed in defeat and just hoped his name would be chosen.
"Well might as well choose the name noooowww. And it'ssssss..." Jr then paused for dramatic effect before he pulled out a slip of paper from the hat. "Kirby! Congratulations! You get to fight an incredibly hungry and aggravated fire lion!"
The puff let out a breath that he didn't even know he was holding.
"Thank goodness. Though maybe I should give the lion some food. No one should go that long without food." Kirby thought, staring at the lion's cage.
"Alright, well, I think we've done enough practicing for today. Let's all goooo to Kawasaki's! My treat!" Jr yelled out, eliciting cheers from everyone else.
But then, that came with yet another question.
"Hey, Jr, where do you get all the money you have from?" Kine asked.
"Oh, that's easy. My brother and I sell fireworks on the side! King Dedede buys a ton from us, so it's pretty easy money." He replied happily.
"That explains where he gets all of those fireworks. By the way, why did you want to start a circus anyway?" Coo asked.
"Because why not?" Jr. replied as if that explained everything, eliciting a few sighs from the three animal friends in response.
"Anyway, come on, I'm starving!" He added, walking towards the direction of Kawasaki's restaurant.
The others nodded and walked after him, except for one.
"I'll join you guys in a couple of minutes. I'm just gonna set the equipment up for us." Kirby told his friends.
"Oh, good idea, Kirby! Thanks!" Jr. exclaimed.
The puff waved his friends goodbye and then looked at the lion. He reached into his pocket space and took out a cooked chicken.
"I was saving this for later, but I think you need it more than I do." He said while placing the chicken inside the cage.
The lion stared at the chicken, as if trying to determine if it was a trap.
"It's ok, go ahead and eat it."
After another brief moment of hesitance, the lion quickly ate it. Smiling at the sight, Kirby wordlessly got to work with setting the equipment up, allowing the lion to enjoy its meal.
After ten minutes had passed, Kirby made it to the restaurant.
"Sorry if I kept you all waiting for long." He said sheepishly.
"Oh, don't worry about it, Kirby!" Rick replied joyfully.
"Yeah, we haven't even gotten our menus yet. So, you're good." Kine added in his usual calm manner.
The puff nodded as he sat down at the table.
"I'll probably just get my usual..." He thought as he looked at the menu. "What are you guys gonna get?"
"I'm not incredibly hungry, so I'll get a few egg rolls." Coo replied.
"Please, you always get egg rolls, mate." Rick said.
"And you always get broccoli soup, your point?" Coo shot back.
Kirby sighed as his two friends started to argue, with Kine trying to calm them down and Jr just laughing at the sight in front of him.
The day came to an end and now it was time for the circus to begin.
"Alright, everyone let's go over our series of events. I'll deliver an opening speech. Then the first act will be Kirby and the hoops. Next will be me and Rick juggling on unicycles. After that will be Kirby and Coo's Parasol trick. Then will be me getting out of the water prison before I get eaten by a shark. Then me dodging Kracko's zappy zaps. After that, Kirby vs the lion. Finally, it will end with me being shot up into the sky where Coo will catch me. Any questions?" Jr asked, his tone surprisingly serious.
Everyone remained silent, anxious to get the show on the road.
"Good, now for that speech."
Jr walked away, entering the view of the excited crowd. Jr could see his brother in the stands cheering him on.
"Hello everybodyyyyy! I'm Poppy Bros Jr! Are you all ready for an explosion of fun!?"
The crowd erupted into cheers. Jr's enthusiasm had successfully sucked them in and called upon their attention.
"Alright, then for our first performance for the day comes from the hero of Dreamland! Kirby will jump through flaming hoops onto a trampoline where he'll try to make twenty balloons before he reaches the ground! Doesn't that sound exciting!?"
The crowd got even louder.
"Well, I guess I should get going." Kirby said to himself.
"Break a leg mate!" Rick said while patting the puff's back.
"Huh!? But I need my leg to jump!"
"...It's a figure of speech Kirby. It means good luck."
"Really? How is breaking a leg good luck?"
"I... don't... know... Coo, do you know?" The hamster asked, turning to the owl.
"I believe it's a saying that means "good luck"."
"Well, I know that much, but why?" Rick asked exasperated.
"Well, I believe it might have all started with..."
Kirby sighed and walked away to begin his performance.
Despite seeing the large crowd waiting for him, he wasn't nervous at all. More than likely this was because Kirby was used to performing for others.
"Alright Kirby, you ready to go?" The excited bomber asked his friend.
"Yup!"
"Alright, do you your best! Come on everyone! Let's get some explosive cheers for everyone's favorite hero!"
The crowd roared loudly, giving Kirby energy. Kirby aimed himself at the rings of fire and jumped through them, spinning around for extra flair. He then safely landed on the trampoline and launched himself high, beginning to create balloons as fast as he could. Thanks to his endless creativity Kirby created balloons of various shapes, most of which depicting his many friends like Meta Knight, King Dedede and Bandana Dee. Once he safely reached the ground, Kirby had managed to create thirty unique balloons. The applause he received in response was roaring. However, this wasn't the last of the tricks for the night, as the puff was aware.
Jr's voice was then echoed out around the tent. "How was that everyone!? I for one found it awesome! Next up will be me and the lovable hamster, Rick!"
As the audience clapped, the two of them rode out on unicycles and juggled. Kirby, meanwhile, took the time to relax, as much he could anyway.
"Are you nervous about something, buddy?" Kine asked in visible concern for his friend.
"Oh, I'm just slightly nervous. Some of Poppy's ideas are pretty dangerous, you know?" He said with a slight laugh.
"Yeah, I know what you mean. I can't believe he got Rick to agree to juggling bombs. Wait... never mind, yes, I can."
While Kirby expected that, he looked even more concerned. Hopefully, everything else would go off without a problem, as much as he trusted that everything would go smoothly.
Eventually it was time for the water tank escape.
"Jr, are you sure you should be wearing a straitjacket for this. You could really hurt yourself." The pink hero said in concern.
"It'll be fiiineeee! I've practiced this with actual piranhas!"
"He'll be fine, mate. Kine will help him if something bad happens. Besides I think the straitjacket suites him..." Rick said, stating the last part under his breath.
Either Poppy Jr. didn't hear it or didn't care, as he just proceeded to continue with the next trick.
"Alright, everyone, I'm gonna lock myself in this box filled with water! I'm going to attempt to escape before the vicious shark eats me! Isn't thaaaaat exciting!?"
The crowd chattered worriedly at that. Either they were too nervous to notice, or the costume was too convincing, because no one in the audience could tell the shark was really just Kine.
"That's a really convincing costume..." Kirby thought to himself.
"Now, let's geeet started!" Jr. shouted before jumping into the water.
The puff closed the lid, which locked itself. Now the only way to open it was from the inside. While he trusted his friend, he still hoped that nothing bad happened.
"You know Jr, I could release you immediately." Kine offered. "For having no hands I'm great at removing straitjackets. Oh, don't ask how I know that, though."
Jr quickly shook his head. "No waaayyy! That'll ruin the point of the trick!"
"I guess so. Well back to being a scary shark." Kine then proceeded to stare at him menacingly.
It was then that Jr. began to attempt his escape. Through sheer force of will, and a loose strap, he got one hand out and quickly got the whole jacket off. Now all that was left was to open the lock. Thankfully he came prepared. Jr reached into his hat and pulled out a key. With a fluid motion, he opened the lock and excited the tank to the sound of a cheering crowd.
"Alright, we're going to take a quick five-minute break, everyone! Go help yourself to the popcoorrrn!"
With that said, the entire crowd started moving around as Poppy returned to where Kirby was waiting.
"Are you on Jr? You didn't get a lot of water in your mouth, did you?"
"I'm fiiiine, Kirby! Don't worry!" Jr said not worried at all, not noticing the stream of water leaking from his ears.
"...you should probably get examined."
"No time for that! After you and Coo do your stunt, I'm up next for dodging Kracko!"
Kirby gave a bit of a sigh as he copied the Parasol Ability in preparation. "You ready, Coo?"
"Ready when you are!"
Kirby nodded. "Ok, everyone! Watch me and Coo!"
The entire crowd watched as the duo spun around.
"How do they spin so fast?"
"It's like a hurricane!"
Many statements like this could he heard by all of the crowd. Kirby gave a smile as he saw the happy faces of the crowd. The puff and bird came down and bowed, getting even more cheers. Then the sound of thunder could be heard. Kracko had arrived.
"Oh no, it's Kracko!"
"What's he doing here!? Is he gonna electrocute us?!" The crowd murmured.
"Relax everyone he's not here to electrocute any of you. He's here to electrocute meeeee!"
The entire crowd screamed as Poppy began to walk the tightrope.
"I'VE WAITING FOR THIS ALL DAY!" Kracko yelled, shooting bolts of lightning at the fearless jester.
However, to the amazement of the crowd, none of the bolts hit him.
"I'm surprised he can dodge so well, mate."
"No... I think Kracko's missing on purpose." Kirby said.
"What makes you say that?" Kine asked.
"Kracko's happy. You can tell by the smile in his eye. I think he's just been wanting an excuse to let out all of the energy he has."
The hamster took a look up and indeed noticed this. "Well, whaddya know!"
"That explains why he agreed so easily. Maybe he's not so bad after all."
The entire group seemed to nod in response and soon, the performance was over.
"Thanks again Kracko!" Jr shouted.
"No problem." Kracko said a calm voice, surprising everyone. "If you need me to release more energy just let me know. I haven't felt that good in years." The normally angry cloud said as he left.
"So, I'm up next..." Kirby uttered to himself.
"You can handle it, Kirby." Came the wise voice of Coo. "You're one of the strongest fighters on the planet. Besides, the lion trusts you. Considering how you fed it and all."
The puff nodded. "Yeah, I know that." He then paused. "Wait, how did you know I fed the lion!?" He asked in shock.
"You just told me."
The child then pouted for a moment, but then it turned to a smile. "Was it that obvious that I fed it?"
"For me? Yes. The others? No, they don't have any clue."
"Oh, that's good... well, I probably should get going."
"What ability will you use? Will you be sticking with Circus?"
"Yup! Seems like a good idea to me!"
"Good luck, Kirby. Not that you really need it." The wise owl said with a laugh.
"Thanks, Coo!" He replied happily before running out to the center stage.
"Alright, everyone, it's time for our second to last performance! It's the pink bruiser himself vs a deadly fire lion!" As Poppy shouted that, the crowd cheered wildly.
"Alright, Rick, open the caaaage!"
With a silent nod, the hamster obeyed and opened it. The lion leapt at Jr as soon as the cage was open, but Kirby was able to push out of harm's way.
"Hey, come and get me!" Kirby called out to the lion, somersaulting all over the place to keep the lion distracted so that Jr and Rick could get to safety.
Once Kirby saw they were safe he began to go on the offensive and pulled out multiple batons and threw them at lion's head at full force. While it clearly hurt, the lion wasn't done yet and leapt at Kirby. Kirby smiled and placed a ball on the ground and backwards somersaulted. The lion landed on the ball, and something then forced it to try and keep its balance on the ball. Kirby saw this opportunity and tackled the lion to the ground, where he then whispered something to his ferocious foe.
"If you pretend to be asleep, I'll get you even more delicious food."
Upon hearing that, the lion immediately became silent.
"Is that a "yes"?" Kirby asked. He got his answer in the form of fake snoring. He gave a slight giggle.
"Did you see that everyone!? Taken out in short time! As to be expected from the one and only Kirby!"
The crowd roared with applause.
"Ok Mr. Lion, let's get you some food." Kirby said as he picked up the lion with herculean strength.
While he did that, Jr got the cannon ready.
"Alright folks, it's time for our final act! Allow me to say this first. Thank you all for coming and I hope you had an explosive time!" He yelled.
As the crowd cheered, he got in the cannon.
"Fire when ready Rick!"
"Alright!" Rick aimed the cannon straight up and fired, sending Jr sky high.
"Alriiiiight!" The bomber yelled once he reached maximum height.
He then spun around, throwing fireworks in every direction. They exploded, taking various shapes including Kirby and the other performers. The crowd roared even louder than before. Poppy began to fall, but he wasn't worried at all thanks to Coo grabbing him quickly.
"You said nothing about throwing fireworks, you know."
Jr giggled. "Well, it's not a surprise if anyone knows about it."
With that sentence, the circus was done, and Jr couldn't have been happier.
A few hours later Jr once again brought his friends to Kawasaki's to celebrate a successful show.
"I'd like to start by thanking all of you for your participation!" He announced to the group.
"It's no big deal mate. It was a lot of fun!"
"Yeah and thanks for letting me keep the shark costume."
Rick and Kine said one after the other.
"It's not a problem, Poppy! You know I'm always glad to help!" Kirby exclaimed in between bites of food.
"When is the next show?" Coo asked as he pecked at his eggroll.
"Tomorrow!"
None of them were surprised by this statement and just laughed.
"Three cheers for the circus!" Kirby shouted, holding a glass of apple juice.
The rest of the group cheered as their glasses clanged and they enjoyed their meals.
I'm quite sorry if it feels like this chapter took so long. To make a long story short, I had a lot of schoolwork to attend to and I needed a mental break.
Thank you for your patience.