Gamelover41592- Nope! Marx was normal...well as normal as Marx can be.
Guest- That is very true
Matt (Guest)- It's useful, but like I said, Owen thinks it's very lame
Finally, I can give the chapters normal names! The only reason I did it the first two times was so I could make sure you all knew the difference between the planet/location and the level. Either way, our merry band of heroes want some answers and they think they will be found here. Let's get going.
"What a dump!" Marx exclaimed once the group had arrived at the fortress. It definitely wasn't pretty.
"Hmph! I doubt there is much of worth inside," A voice huffed from behind them. Everyone turned to see Dark and Taranza.
"Dark! Taranza! Great to see you," Kirby said. "But...why are you together?"
"To make up for what he accidentally helped cause, Dark kinda just made himself my bodyguard," Taranza explained.
"Aw! Darkie does have a heart!" Marx cooed.
"And I will be cutting yours out if you don't shut up!" Dark snapped. As he and Marx dissolved into an argument, the others watched with varying expressions of amusement.
"They almost seem to enter a zen like state when they fight," Daraoch noted.
"Indeed," Meta Knight agreed, showing a bit of amusement at his mirror double's antics.
"I can see why Dark wanted to be as far from him as possible," Owen said with a smile.
"He likes us, he just won't admit it," Kirby said.
SLAM!
"Looks like whoever's in there knows we're here," Dedede said. The group had found another heart by the gate, but it had flown off and the gate had slammed shut. Everyone readied themselves for a fight. A raccoon and fox wearing armor dropped down.
"Is that Pon and Con?" Dee asked.
"What are they doing here?" Kine asked.
"Guys! Watch out!" Kirby called out. While they were talking, Pon and Con had summoned their normal style of arena, namely several walkways with gaps in a few parts and had begun their attack.
"How diz they zummon that with none of us noticing?" Doc asked.
"No clue," Owen admitted. Pon and Con weren't that hard to deal with. All they really could do was walk back and forth, dash across, use mini versions of themselves for backup and having said mini versions drop bombs from above. Needless to say, they were quickly beaten. Kirby then tossed a friend heart at them. They then proceeded to open up the door.
"Dang, those things come in handy!" Dedede said.
"Oh, we know," Owen said. "Still don't know where they came from,"
"Maybe whoever's in here will be able to explain it to us," Meta Knight pointed out.
"They better!" Coo huffed. "I would very much like to get back to my nap!"
"Chill out, Coo!" Rick said. "All of us ain't pleased with these bozos,"
"Are bozos tasty?" Gooey asked.
"Whoa!"
Everyone jumped back. Something cold had just rushed past them from above. It was a blue haired girl with blue markings near her eyes, wearing what looked like a uniform of some kind. In her hand was one of the hearts.
"...Bonjam," She said after a few seconds.
"Huh?" Dedede said for everyone. No one knew what that meant.
"Heh. That's how we greet people on MY planet," She explained. "I am Francisca, one of the three generals of magic. Together, we command the Fortress of Shadows known as...Jambastion!"
"Oh so we are finally dropping names, huh?" Kirby replied. "Well then Francisca, I'm Kirby and I lead the Star Allies!"
"So we finally have a name?" Owen asked. "I like it,"
"It is fitting," Meta Knight said.
"Well, I was going to do Star Friends, but I thought Star Allies sounded better," Kirby admitted.
"It does sound more refined," Daroach noted.
"Sounds less cheesy too," Ribbon added in.
"It's still kinda cheesy," Taranza pointed.
"Can we debate this later?" Dark asked. "Incase you have forgotten, we are on a battlefield." As soon as he said that, everyone remembered where they were. For her part Francisca just looked annoyed.
"Are you done?" She asked before continuing. "We wish to assemble the dark Jamba Heart pieces that were scattered across the universe."
"That explains the hearts," Owen whispered to the others. A few nodded.
"Once we do, our most twisted of visions will finally be...untwisted. Unthawed? Unfurled!" Francisca stuttered. Marx cackled, causing her to glare at him. "But I do not wish to waste my time with pointless chatter. So I won't!"
"Weren't you just talking?" Kirby asked. Francisca paid him no mind.
"Just know that should you attempt to oppose us…" She began before pulling out an axe. "I'll have no choice but to put you on ice...FOREVER!"
"Scatter!" Taranza called out. Everyone rushed in different directions, trying to get attacks in. Francisca was an ice mage, that much was clear. Beyond just trying to hit people with swings of the axe, she could enlarge the head and try to catch people in it, create icicles, and fire a large stream of icy water. This, however, caused her undoing.
"Take this!" Adeleine cried as she used her Kracko painting to send a stream of electricity through the water stream and right back to Francisca. This stunned her and allowed the Star Allies to whale away. She was knocked out, but only for a few seconds before grabbing the heart and flying off.
"HEY, YOU!"
"Who said that?" Kine asked. The answer came in the form of another girl wearing an outfit like Francisca, only she had red hair and eye markings. And she looked pissed.
"This does not give me a good feeling," Taranza said nervously.
"You said it," Ribbon agreed.
"Stubby little...pink thing!" She yelled out again.
"Me?" Kirby asked.
"Yes, YOU! I have a buuuurning question for you!" She snapped.
"Yes?" Kirby asked again.
"You're the one who was so rude to sweet Francisca, aren't you?! Don't you dare try to deny it!" She roared. Everyone sharing nervous looks seemed to only make her madder. "Fiends! Cowards! I swear, if you've harmed a single blue hair on her perfect head...you'll BURN for it! JAMBLASTED! I will never EVER forgive you!"
"Well, you are a bad guy, so…" Owen said. She didn't notice him.
"Now you must face Flamberge! That's ME!" She roared as she pulled out a flaming sword. "For what you've done, I'll scorch you to such a degree that...that...even tasty, toasty marshmallows will seem like ice cubes compared to you!" Flamberge was far more aggressive then Francisca, which was to be expected. Beyond the normal danger of being hit by a flaming sword strike, she could shoot fireballs from it, drag it across the ground and cause flames to erupt, try to skewer them on her sword, firing them at the others if she caught them, summoning four more swords to throw and a large cannon, which much like Francisca, proved to be her undoing.
"Spicy," Gooey said as he liked Flamberge's cannon fuse. This put it out.
"Aw janno," Flamberge moaned before the cannon exploded in her face. This gave everyone the chance to finish her off. Much like last time, she quickly recovered and flew off with a heart she had on her.
"We must be getting close," Meta Knight said.
"Yeah, there's a lot more of these guys," Owen added in.
"Ya think there will another one of those generals?" Marx asked.
"I should hope not," Dark huffed. "However, they do put up a good fight,"
"For once, we agree," Meta Knight said to his darker counterpart.
"They still haven't told us what these hearts are for," Ribbon pointed out.
"They were from something they were pieces to something called a Jamba Heart," Kirby remembered.
"Sounds tasty," Gooey said, lost in his own world.
"Gooey, ya probably shouldn't eat those," Rick noted.
"Is it bad too?" Gooey asked.
"That must be the core," Dee said as he pointed to a large glowing yellow thing in the center of the room.
"Then let's smash it!" Owen said as he raised his watery hammer to the air. That thought, along with all others, was interrupted by yet another general streaked towards them like lightning. Much like the two before her, she was wearing a uniform and holding a heart piece. Her hair and markings, however, were yellow.
"Bonjam," She greeted. "I am Zan Partizanne, the eldest of the three generals of magic. At first I thought you to be just a simpleton with a knack for annoyance. Hmph! Now it is clear that you are a bunch of interfering interlopers!
"You really don't know what we are like, do you?" Kirby asked.
"Yeah, we don't take too kindly to invaders!" Owen added in. A chorus of "yeahs!" came from behind them. Zan didn't seem impressed.
"But I am afraid your unwanted wanderings end here. By the will of our beloved liege, Lord Hyness, Officiant of Doom…" She continued before pulling out an electrically charged spear. "I shall destroy you here and now!" Zan was fast, befitting her element. She could attack with thrusts of her spear, slam the spear down and create a little electric shockwave, a thunder cloud with lightning coming out of it, and a set of electric drums which she could fire electric orbs from or a giant laser. Once again, this weapon proved to be her downfall as a lucky hit from Owen's hammer caused to short out and stun her. Once she regained her barings, Zan grabbed the heart before flying next to the core.
"Told you we don't your kind!" Owen said.
"Ugh... Jam...blasted…" Zan groaned. "Bah! How could there be such opposition on a measly and remote planet like this?!"
"Lady, we get eldritch abominations almost yearly," Kirby said. "You aren't even a warm up! Heck, a former one is standing behind me,"
"Hey! That's not a nice thing to say about Gooey!" Marx protested.
"He was talking about you, imbecile," Dark said bluntly.
"That doesn't make it better!" Marx snapped.
"Well, it matters not. This Jamba Heart piece is already within my grasp!" Zan pointed out, unknowingly stopping another fight before it started. She pulled her spear out before turning to face Kirby. "Listen here, you tiny ball of puffy pink mischief! For all I care…"
"Wait don't!" Kirby exclaimed as he realized what was about to happen. But it was too late. Zan plunged her spear into the core.
"You and this Jambastion can rot in ruin forever!" Zan cried before laughing. "Baaahahahaha! Jambuhbye!" With that, she flew off. The Star Allies were thrown into a panic.
"We need to get out of here!" Storo cried. However, the way in was blocked off by derbis.
"We're trapped!" Adeleine cried as she and Ribbon hugged each other in fear. Everyone else joined in. Was this the end?
BOOM!
Everyone turned to see the Lor Starcutter smash through the wall. Magolor and Susie were on the deck.
"Hurry!" Magolor called as he and Susie helped everyone on board. Once everyone was on, Magolor pulled the ship away just in time for the base to collapse.
Once everyone had caught their breaths or recovered from their near heart attacks, Magolor spoke up.
"So...what's with the hearts?" He asked. "Susie and I were exploring Shiver Star and then they just started raining down."
"We don't know much, but they said it was from something called a Jamba Heart," Owen explained. Almost instantly, Susie and Magolor shared a nervous look.
"But...but that's impossible!" Susie exclaimed.
"Clearly not," Daroach snarked as he fanned himself with his hat.
"No, you don't understand," Magolor began as he pulled out an old book. It had an odd heart symbol on it. Susie walked over to the Lor's control panel and begin typing something.
"Hey, that was on those mage girls' hats!" Taranza exclaimed when he saw the symbol.
"It's the symbol of the Jambastion Religion," Magolor explained. "They were a Halcandran religion until the ancients banished them for worshiping a dark god. They are basically erased from history we don't know much about them,"
"I think I got a lock on something at the end of the galaxy!" Susie called out. Everyone grouped around her. "It's fuzzy, but I think if we visit each other these planets, we should be able to find that heart and destroy it!"
"Sounds like a plan to us!" Owen said for everyone. "Are you two coming?"
"Definitely," Susie said.
"After what those guys did to Halcandra, I've been wanting to kick their butts for years," Magolor replied.
"Alright then," Kirby said. "Let's go Star Allies!"
"LET'S GO STAR ALLIES!" Everyone cheered as the Lor began its journey.
We have our final four Dream Friends and yes, I did change the ending a bit so that Magolor and Susie could be Big Damn Heroes. Either way, we know a bit more of the stakes and we have met some of our villains. See you guys next time!