Star's Allies
Chapter 15 - Valiant Voice
After their eardrums returned to, uh, normal, Francesca held her hands, crossed as Magolor and Taranza, still an abomination and a moth, talked it out.
Well, it was less of a talk and more of an argument…
"Why the hell did you attack us!?" Taranza quipped, wings flapping ferociously.
"I thought you guys were bad guys?" Francisca unsurely quivered.
"Calling us bad guys might be a little late…" Magolor commented.
"Eh?" Francisca looked surprised. "I thought… that you all were doing some evil things! Especially in this place…"
"Uh, I might've helped plant a giant stalk on Dreamland and kidnap a king, but that's all I did...?"
"Well, maybe I also helped Secty kill herself…" Taranza murmured, nearly silent as his face darkened.
Francisca cocked her head at Taranza, before looking at Magolor instead.
Magolor turned his eyes away, with a sombre face.
He quickly turned his eyes back at the ice mage. "We weren't doing anything off here. I was just collecting a certain fuel type for my magic ship."
"Say, how'd you know what we did? I certainly never told what happened back then to other people…"
Francisca's face lightened up. "Oh, Kirb told me about it! She's really nice!"
Taranza formed a funny face. "O-oh. 'Kirb' told you of us, huh?"
"Yes! You know Kirb?"
"Well, uh, after our, er, stunts…" Magolor mumbled.
Taranza continued. "We kinda became friends, in a sort of way. I lived in Dreamland for some time after the Dreamstalk and..." Taranza looks away.
Francisca did not compute that signal, but she continued anyway. "I like Kirb! She's been telling me these stories! A giant machine, a world made of yarn; it all sounds like a giant adventure!"
"Ah. I see," Coo spat out out of nowhere.
Magolor jumped.
The animal trio had been staring at the battle for some time.
"You're someone Kirby is acquainted to, yes?"
Francisca tilted her head. "Well, her name is Kirb… Miss Hyness told me so! But yes, I'm friends with Kirb!"
Coo breathed out a sigh. "Hmmm. Kirby does have a good choice in friends… as evidenced by us three."
"And not me?" Taranza held his hand to his chest, mock-insulted by the comment.
Rick cut in. "Hey hey, you're the guys who battled with Kirby before; I'm sure the puffball trusts us more!" He was smiling.
Magolor chuckled, before asking Francisca.
"What's your name?"
"Ooh. My name? It's Francisca, of the Three Mage-Sisters~"
Magolor offered a hand, despite still being in 'nightmare fuel' form. "Ah.. I'm Magolor. Pleased to meet you. If Kirby told you of me…"
"I know! You tricked her to help you conquer the crown, right?"
Magolor had an uncomfortable face as she mentioned the mishap.
"Ah, uh, er….." Magolor fumbled over his words.
Francisca, oblivious, simply accepted his hand and shook it vigorously. "Anyways, pleased to meet ya', Mister Magolor!"
Francisca turned to the moth that is Taranza.
"And you, mister…?"
"Taranza. The spider, if Kirby told you such."
Francisca's eyes lit up again. "Ooh! Kirb told me you were really cool for helping her back with King Dedede...dede?"
"I'm… cool…?" Taranza queried, not believing what she said. "Ha! I'm cool!"
Magolor's face became even more downcast.
"So, uh, anyways…" Kine started.
"...what are we doing now?"
Things went silent for a while.
Magolor, hearing this, gained his professionalism back. "We're done here, actually. We're going back to the ship."
Francisca raised an eye to this.
Coo cawed. "Finally! I don't have to stand this volcano anymore!" Coo flapped her wings and took off.
Rick noticed this and grabbed her tail, giving her an unexpected squawk and held Kine close as the three flew into the air.
This left the three down below with an awkward scene.
"So. I'm heading back. Want to come with us?" Magolor offered to the ice mage.
She gave it some time, thinking, before she made her choice.
"Sure!" she smiled, as she flew upwards.
Magolor followed her, as they chatted.
Taranza is now left alone in the volcano crater.
"Bah." The moth flew up, chasing the two.
Kirby was thrown around in the endless void of black as the puffball looked around.
The panic had already set in.
"Uh… Marx? Let me out already?"
Nobody answered.
Kirby spent who knows how long floating in the empty space.
Things started getting boring.
"Augh! I can't stand the silence anymore!" Kirby flipped, and blew out some air.
It propelled the pink ball some distance. Kirby noticed this.
"Hmm… I see..!"
The next few minutes were spent trying to navigate the empty abyss that was Marx's void.
Most of the environment was just empty space.
However, Kirby soon encounters a gear. A rusted, old, gear.
Kirby puffed to the cylindrical object, holding it the soon the puffball's hands were on it, clutching it. Kirby looked around. Seemed like things might've not been so empty after all.
Kirby kept travelling. The longer time passed, the more broken machinery lay strewn across the space. It all looked like a junkyard soon enough, with black liquid and weird tables floating, gears aimlessly floating here and there.
The longer Kirby went, the more it became harder and harder to travel through. Gears actually started to become a nuisance, as the junk pile kept on getting closer and bigger.
A staggering amount of time later, Kirby bumped to a massive machine.
It was some sort of machine planet.
Kirby recognised this being immediately.
Nova.
It looked dead. Feels dead.
No whirrs or clanks came from the celestial being.
Kirby backed up slightly, astonished at the wishgranter.
"Mnghh…."
Behind you.
Kirby whirled behind as Adeleine came to, head groggy and mind not so clear.
"Wh-what…? What happened…?"
Adeleine seemed so out of it.
Kirby tried to comfort the confused painter.
"Adeleine…! You're back?"
"I am..? What…?" Adeleine mumbled.
Slowly, Adeleine coughed. It slowly turned into a fit of hacking, as the painter threw up a small, dark heart.
Kirby widened his eyes at the heart. It was pulsating, beating so slow…
Kirby grabbed a nearby gear and hurled it at the heart.
It cracked, as the pieces of the heart smashed into pieces the more Kirby threw gears at it.
Eventually, it was reduced to dust.
Kirbu huffed, sending him off slightly, but course-correcting seemed pointless as of now.
Now…
Kirby turned his attention to the whacking great planet in front of them.
A brush seemed to be painting it. It was nearly done.
As the brush completed repainting Nova, it returned to Adeleine, who started to notice the hellhole they were in.
"Hey, uh, Kirby? Where… are we?"
"Somewhere… I'm not sure…"
Nova opened its eyes. A loud 'meow' sounded, ringing their ears with the delighted machine's will.
system rebooting
...
rebooted
log notes saved
hello user_ kirby
what can i do for you today
"Hello… Nova. Where are we?"
hello
we are at x=0 y=0 z=0
That was not helpful.
Adeleine now looked in fear of the machine, wondering if they'll actually make it home from this black space.
Kirby sighed. "Okay… what do you last remember, then?"
viewing log notes…
log notes received
last user_ marx wished for life
last_wish granted
heart_transfer protocol initiated
"What?"
Kirby does not understand any of this.
Suddenly, without warning, Nova cleanly split in two.
Within all the layers, lays Marx, in the core of the being.
Kirby started to puff to him.
...before getting held back by Adeleine.
"Wait, stop. Who is he? Where are we? How'd we get here…?"
Oh. I forgot Adeleine was still here.
"He's Marx, my acquaintance… as of now. You kinda attacked us."
"I did what!?" Adeleine flipped out, gripping her brush tightly.
"Well, uh, that heart sorta did things to you…"
Adeleine held her hand up to her head.
"Augh… I can't imagine what horrible things I did…"
While Adeleine was wallowing, Kirby puffed himself to Marx.
Adeleine noticed this and tried to follow the puffball.
She… was moving. In a very slow pace.
Kirby got closer and closer to Marx, floating in his own abyss.
As puffball got closer and closer, Marx opened his eyes.
"Who are you?"
Kirby stumbled and tumbled to Marx, hitting him.
This did not faze him.
"I'm Marx. But I'm not."
Kirby stared at him as best as he could before flipping over again.
"I'm the heart."
A giant vortex formed in Marx, as the demon split in two, creating a whirlpool as Kirby was sucked in.
Adeleine, who was further out, screamt as she went in the hole.
It all closed once the two were in.
"We have a lot to talk about, Marx. About you. About what you've done. About what you'll do."
"...What did the last wish mean to you?"
...It saved me.
A ghostly apparition of Marx formed in front of the Marx inside the Nova.
It was everything to me. I'm grateful. Really, I am.
"You took the second chance. What will you do with it?"
Rebuild my life. Not make the same mistakes I made. Make friends.
"There you go. Good answer."
Kirby and Adeleine were spat back out into the cave. Marx, who was split in two, slowly came together again. He looked worried.
"You were gone so long in there! Sorry I didn't find you longer…"
The two seemed unconscious, and Marx just seemed to notice that.
"Oh."
Marx looked around, before dragging the two to a crevice in the cave and slept on a flat rock, shivering in the cold…?
Marx was woken up a few minutes later when the whole volcano decidedly got a whole lot colder.
As he stepped outside the cave, he turned his head to the peak of the volcano to see a ship already off in the distance. The peak seemed frozen.
The ship seemed of interest.
However, he cannot waste anymore time, else they won't catch up.
I need to follow that ship.
…
"Mmgh. Mrph. Mhwha…?" Kirby blinked.
The sky seemed so close. Was this another dream?
Kirby decided to look below.
They were tens of thousands of feet up.
"Wh-wha!?" Kirby stumbled, as he was gripped by something.
"Whehehey! Don't move! I can't correct for your weight that quick, ya know!" Marx berated.
Kirby then noticed that they were flying on MMarx being held by the claws on his wings. His purple wings.
"Why are we up here?" Kirby questioned.
"I'm following that ship up there! Somewhere…"
A blink of an iconic blue starship was visible in the clouds.
Kirby managed to spot it. "Oh. That ship."
Kirby made a face and decided to look at the opposite side.
On the other wing was Adeleine, also out. Not to mention...
"Marx, that form…"
"I know, I know, this body of mine has already taken a lotta beatings, and you prolly don't need to see this form again."
Marx was on his soul form, gripping the two as he flew on mach speed towards the ship in the distance.
"O-oh. I see…"
Kirby stayed silent after that, remembering the last time Marx looked like this. It was hell.
…
Climbing into the ship (and reverting to their normal selves), the crew zoomed off with Magolor's expertise in flying the thing.
"Alrighty!" Taranza cheered, as Magolor flung the switch further. They were off to the castle, as a means of reunion before following their dark heart compass, off into space. Dedede's castle, to be precise.
They were finally back on track. Finally off to save Kirby.
After so many detours and so many fights, their mode of transport was on '100%', as Magolor stated it.
Taranza whipped his head to the animal trio. "So! We're kinda going to space! You guys want to follow?"
To his surprise, they all declined. "It's been fun, and I'd say we've had our share of adventure in a while," Coo cawed.
Kine raised a flipper. "You, uh, see, we kind of want to take it all in. Space sounds dangerous for me…"
Rick seemed ecstatic at the idea, before Coo backhanded the hamster. "Owie… but Coo, I want to ta' follow them…"
"And we're not going to, because we need some rest for a good, long while. After the heart nonsense."
"Agh. Fine…"
Taranza chuckled. "Well, where are ya' gonna drop off?"
Coo flapped her wings.
"The castle will do. After that, you're off to space?"
"Yes!" Taranza estaticly supplied, pointing up.
Magolor stepped in, his hands not on the wheel as he approached the four.
"Well, we're approaching the castle. Should be a feeew more minutes and we'll be there."
…
Marx kept on flying further. The ship seemed to slow down, as the tip of Castle Dedede showed up.
"Hey, we're getting close!" Marx mentioned.
Kirby looked to the ship. They were indeed getting closer, as Marx said.
"Huh. Nice. Can't wait to see Dedede again."
"The big ol' fat penguin?"
Kirby groaned. "Yes, him. Which penguin did you think it was?"
"I don't know, there could be some other penguin in Dreamland. You don't know, I don't know, we all don't kno-"
"Mhwpha!?" Adeleine woke up. Fear took her quite quickly as she started to struggle, much to the dismay of Marx.
"Erm, uh, Miss Painter, please don't move so much — my grip on you will break!"
Adeleine erratically moved around, not heeding Marx's plea.
Kirby tried to step in. "Adeleine! Calm down!" the puffball roared over the wind.
Her breathing slowly calmed down as reality caught up.
The erratic movements slowed as Marx weaved here and there, eliciting a few shrieks as he course-corrected the panic Adeleine had.
Marx sighed as he steadied back. He looked at his passengers.
"You all fine?" he asked.
Adeleine gave a thumbs up, despite not looking fine.
Marx smiled. "Alright then! We're back, ba-"
The jester smashed his face onto the hull of the Lor Starcutter.
A bonk resounded as the Lor Starcutter came to a stop above Dedede's castle.
"What was that?"
"Sounded like a 'bonk'. Might've been stray creature, so no worries. I'm sure they'll just have a concussion, and then fly back off into the distance," Magolor reassured.
"A concussion doesn't sound favourable," Coo off-handedly commented.
"Any type of bonk to the head isn't pleasant, silly!" Francisca responded, jolly at that.
…
Marx received the worst headache he's had in a long time. His altitude is dropping, his passengers are screaming— oh, it wasn't good at all.
His wings won't work anymore. He tried to pour some power into them, but it just doesn't work.
They were going to crash into Dedede's castle. Again.
Well, again, for him. Maybe Kirby, too. He had forgotten about that break-in. He wondered if the hole was still there-
Adeleine's voice raised ten pitches higher as they approached the top of the castle.
Well, I'll take the plunge.
Marx, are you crazy? You'll get hurt!
Ah, I'll be fine.
Marx dove right through the roof.
…
Dedede had a fine, swell day.
His tea was properly brewed, thank goodness— he blew the brewing method last he tried it. He was the tester, not the cook.
His crackers were well crispy and crunchy. The proper features of a cracker.
The king sat in his royal throne with this well concoction, relaxing the day off after he took care of that mess.
Susie was a real hard negotiator. Kept on and on trying to get the better end of the deal on their trades.
For the daughter of a businessman, that wasn't out of the question for her. The king sighed.
That was a whole heap of bullshit. Another was them trying to get Galacta Knight a room in the castle, much like Meta Knight, despite him often not using it.
Seriously, when you offer someone a home, you can't just visit it sometimes and leave a pile of garbage every trip.
In Meta's case, the room was filled with stocks of armour polish, cloth, and heaps of broken training dummies.
Those waddle dee dummies took a long time to make, only to be destroyed in seconds…
Well, at least they make good firewood.
Galacta, who turned out to have similar tendencies like Meta Knight, had his room essentially mirror Meta's.
King Dedede leaned his head back. He now at least had some good 'me' time, with no one to disturb him, as he specifically requested not to enter his quarters.
Peace and quiet. The greatest reward a king could have.
And that was when King Dedede was proven wrong.
"HELLO, BIIIIIT-"
There was now a Marx-shaped hole on both the roof and the floor.
King Dedede sipped his tea in full, before smashing the cup against the carpet.
...
Marx smashed through five floors before landing his face on hard concrete.
He was definitely out for the count. There was a slight twitch on his foot as he laid there, face a few feet in the concrete, knocked out. His passengers, however…
"Aghhhhh…. my head…" Adeleine moaned, as she got up from the now limp Marx. She had somehow held her precious brush through this whole mess. This jester is definitely insane!
She stepped out of the… non-existent wings…? The wings weren't there anymore.
...Huh.
Adeleine gripped her brush as she looked around the place. Seemed like a deep, dark, and damp chamber. A torture prison, maybe? They were crashing into a castle… who knows, maybe Dedede liked this stuff.
Adeleine gripped her head as the last few hours caught up to her. That… wasn't her best picture. A guillotine? She would never paint that. Too dark for her tastes. What happened again..?
Her head hurt. Bad.
She tried to look for Kirby. Adeleine knew Kirby was there. So where was she?
A pink glint pushed itself up from near Marx. Kirby rose from the ground.
And then tripped and fell on Marx, adding insult to injury to the cocky jester.
Adeleine helped Kirby up, offering a hand. Kirby, in turn, accepted her hand. That was when King Dedede stormed in the basement.
A puff of smoke rose from the roof of Castle Dedede as Magolor veered his ship off to the courtyards, where he stopped the engine and opened the doors.
"Say, they've got some smoke billowing out the roof," Magolor noted.
Taranza smirked.
"Well, they might be hosting a backyard barbecue party, I don't know."
"A what now?" Francisca cocked her head, staring at Taranza.
"N-never mind. Haha…"
Rick, Kine, and Coo followed them, absent-mindedly chatting about various different things.
Magolor and Taranza approached the royal doors when Francisca decided to pull out a massive water gun. "Ahaha! Never used this one before!" she exclaimed, pointing the object at the doors."
Taranza stared at the thing, appraising it as Magolor commented about it. "H-hey.. I don't think that's a good idea. You gotta respect people's property."
"Bah. It's a door. Doors are meant to be broken. Hyah!" Francisca ignored Magolor's warning at blasted the water gun at the door, practically making it fly into the castle's corridor at mach speed.
"That's one way to enter a castle. Hm," Coo stated.
Taranza nodded in agreement, walking forwards nonchalantly.
"The door opened, hey-" Taranza caught up.
And so, the first defenses of Castle Dedede was easily squashed under ten tonnes of pressure from Francisca's broken water gun.
There was a clang from the upper floors. Dedede couldn't ascertain what happened there, but right now his attention was taken up by the cheating, thieving, and lying bastard he saw in front of him.
"Oi! Don't ya' dare moo' aroun'! You left Kirby for dea' in space tha' time, took Kirby alive to who knows whe' and now ya' come back!?" Dedede readied his hammer for a good swing.
The jester won't know what'll hit him. Literally.
"Stop stop sto-" Kirby walked towards him.
"...Kirbeh?"
"Yes, it's me… hello again," Kirby sighed. Dedede went up to the puffball and straight up crushed Kirby in a hug. "I thou' ya' went off because of this fool right here," Dedede said, pointing to Marx all the while.
"Ah… yeah. He's with me. Adeleine, too."
"Adeleine? The paintah?" Dedede turned his head to said painter. "Ah. Hello again," he greeted with a smile.
Adeleine gripped her brush. "Yes, hello. Been a long time since I met you all last. Was just travelling and painting the scenery, as always. Say… I never finished that commision…" Adeleine then went off into murmurs as she pulled out a half-finished easel of Rick, Kine, and Coo, and got back to work on it.
"...she's a painter. You know how she runs," Kirby mentioned. "Anyways, I'm back, yeah. Can you not smack Marx upside in the head right now? He's kinda the one who got us back…"
Dedede 'gently' dropped his hammer on the porcelain floor (and cracking it slightly, turns out Dedede does not know what 'gentle' is) as he approached the unconscious Marx, face half-buried in the floor.
"Soooooo… eh, how did y'all get back heah? I thought Marx for suah… ya know…"
Kirby scratched the back of his head. "Well… he sorta acted, or something… forced to work with some hotshot trying to take over the world. Again. My job never ends…"
Dedede offered a hand to the tired pink ball. "Relax for a few mo'. Ya' might need it. Guest rooms are on flo' five. Or the basement," Dedede whispered that last part. "Anyways, make yerself at home. Or, atleast as close ta home as ya can."
"We appreciate it," Kirby thanked the king, before picking up Marx by his leg and dragged the jester away. Kirby looked at Marx and blinked, before going back for his hat.
They both left, leaving a tired artist doing art in the basement and a king worried about the integrity of his castle. "Well, better get the cleaners down heah quick. Ya stayin' heah, Adeleine?"
The artist didn't bat an eye, too focused on the easel.
"...well then. I'll just go. Maybe they have some donuts left."
Magolor, Taranza, Francisca, and the animal trio all stepped in the lush and soft carpets of Castle Dedede. Francisca was definitely enjoying herself, rolling around in the red royal carpets.
Magolor's interest was piqued when he caught a glimpse of pink going up the stairs. "Is that Kirby?"
Taranza raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, you think so?"
"I do, in fact," he responded.
"Kirby?" Kine questioned. Magolor stared at him for a minute before noticing that they didn't know about Kirby's situation. "A-ah. Kirby was kidnapped. We've been searching all over for him. We're pretty sure he escaped, based on his past experiences involving… uh." Magolor cut himself off there.
Kine looked up to the stairs. "Well, are we going to go or not?"
Rick charged up the stairs. Kine widened his eyes, before shouting for the hamster. "Hey- Hold on! We haven't decided yet!"
Magolor and Taranza rushed after them. Coo was left standing there with Francisca, currently enjoying the floor. "Eh. Too much work. I'll just preen my feathers. Francisca dear, how are you enjoying the castle?"
"Fun!"
Rick jumped up ten steps as he charged forward.
"Slow down! Slow down dammit-" Kine stumbled, as he himself tripped on the stairs.
That, in turn, made him tumble downwards like a rock towards the two incoming magicians.
Magolor floated on top of the rolling fish, as it bowled down the steps. Seeing the incoming obstacle, Taranza shot out a string of web onto Kine, and pulled him as best as he could. He nearly fell off as well before righting himself and dragging the fish up the stairs with him.
The three chased after the hamster again as they climbed a good amount of stairs. Arriving on the fifth floor, they saw Rick standing there.
"Hey. You seen Kirby, anywhere?"
Rick stepped to the side. Kirby was there, slightly injured, tired, as he carried some… creature and a hat. The same hat which he recognised quite clearly. Back then… when Kirby was kidnapped. He ignored that for now. The guy was unconscious, and his eyes could not believe him right now. Kirby was here.
Greet him then. I'm sure you'll like the reunion.
Sure thing, soul.
"Kirby?"
The puffball turned back, smiling, and greeted them back.
"Hey, guys. I'm back."
Taranza went first, hugging the puffball.
AN:
Another day, another chapter.
Our team finally meets Kirby again, after quite some time. That's all well and good. I suppose I have to explain why I don't update as frequently, huh?
As said on the info portion of the fanfic, I update the story here and there, with an inconsistent schedule. I do try to write often, though. My priorities have this story somewhere high, but not as high as actually living. I have to say though, I had some fun while writing this chapter.
See you all for the next one.
Guest (WHAT THE BIMPS): Yes, I suppose this does answer how this story gets updated. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.
maryokeeffe.16: Say, it also reminds me of Kirby: Star Allies. This is a great revelation you've discovered! I thank thee.