Kirby and his friends journeyed into the land of Iceberg. As expected, it was very cold and the dark clouds brought a depressing atmosphere.
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On the first path, Kirby and Gooey were accompanied by Rick.
The trio walked along the icy path until they noticed something. It looked like flowers were frozen under the ice and snow.
"They're Kogoesoues." Rick said. "They naturally thrive in cold environments, but the clouds must have made them freeze."
Kirby thought for a moment, then inhaled a nearby Flamer. Kirby gently blew his fiery breath over the frozen flowers until they thawed out. The beautiful thawed out flowers were a light lilac with an orange center.
A shining Heart Star appeared in Kirby's arms as a reward.
On the second path, the duo was joined by Nago.
They had been searching for a while with no sign of Dedede. They were wondering how many more lands they would have to traverse before the missing king was found.
They eventually stopped at a large volcano. It wasn't very unusual that a volcano would be in Iceberg, because there was magma deep under the surface of ice. The trio wished with all their might that the volcano was dormant.
One room in the volcano had six strange creatures. They had a light blue gelatinous body with four small claws. Their bodies were transparent and their brains were visible. They flew around erratically, trying to latch or bite onto Kirby.
Kirby blew his fiery breath onto the creatures, but the attack had no effect. Kirby inhaled a block of ice outside, then scurried back to the hostile creatures. He spewed a frosty breath and the alien-like beings. They shattered like glass and gave a bone-chilling cry in defeat.
Abruptly, a strange person in an orange metal suit approached the trio. Kirby and the person stared at each other for a moment, until the stranger removed their helmet.
A woman with beautiful long blonde hair and blue eyes was standing before them. She kneeled down and placed a Heart Star in Kirby's arms, then fled from the volcano.
The trio continued on with Nago still in the group.
They exited the volcano and traveled the snowy landscape.
Kirby, Gooey, and Nago saw someone unexpected in Iceberg.
"Kawasaki, poyo?" Kirby scratched the top of his head in thought.
"What are you doing here?" Nago asked.
"Well, I was going here to get ice for some recipes, but a Gordo stole my chef hat." Kawasaki explained.
It didn't matter if Kawasaki had the freshest, rarest, or most plentiful ingredients. He somehow ruined every dish he tried to create. The most tragic part was Kawasaki's restaurant was the only one in the town. Kirby was one of the only customers he had that could stomach his food with a smile.
"Kirby will help Kawasaki, poyo!" Kirby dragged Gooey and Nago to find the Gordo with the stolen hat.
It didn't take long to find the chef's hat. Kirby snatched the hat off of a very stubborn Gordo and returned it to Kawasaki.
"Thank you, Kirby! When this dark cloud business blows over, I'll treat all three of you to free dinner!"
Kirby squealed with delight while Gooey and Nago exchanged nervous glances.
Kawasaki rewarded the trio with a shining Heart Star for their efforts.
Fumu was sitting in the living room in the castle, lamenting over Meta Knight's words. Trying to decipher their meaning, she mulled over her thoughts.
Kirby had been away for several days, it was only natural that she was worried. However, this wasn't a problem that could be solved in one night, she knew that. The Star Warrior needed time to fix Dreamland, but what if he was rapidly running out of time?
Just for once, she decided that maybe it would be best to take her brother's advice. She opened the paranormal book that Bun had checked out at the library and began reading.
Bun was right about Dedede being possessed before by Dark Matter. He said all the symptoms the king had matched other victims in the books and magazines. She flipped through the pages after she was sure that no one could see her.
There were entries on different bizarre entity sightings or rumors. Several that seemed relevant to the Dark Matter incident.
"Metroids, Halcandrans, and…?" Fumu murmured.
In the entry marked ?, there was an artist's picture of a pitch black blob with orange petal-like spheres around their body. The entities had a single menacing eye. Fumu felt unease by just looking at the picture.
Fumu read quietly to herself. "No one knows what this strange creature wants or if it is the only one of it's kind. The only evidence of it's existence are brief sightings and claims of bodily possession. This strange entity has been said to display hostile behavior and little to no emotion."
That didn't help at all. They already knew Dark Matter was hostile after it took over Dedede and was so determined to rule the entirety of Popstar. Dark Matter was so malevolent that after defeat, it attempted to drag Kirby down with it.
She put the book down and walked to the balcony. The same balcony Dedede disappeared from. Suddenly, a loud rumble was heard in the distance, shaking the ground. The trembles were so strong Fumu fell on her back.
"Hey sis, are you okay?" Bun ran to his sister in concern,
"I'm fine, but where did that rumble come from?" Fumu stood up and looked at the gloomy sky.
"I don't know. It shook the whole town."
The siblings made their way to the castle courtyard, prepared to investigate the strange occurrence.
King Dedede's car sped towards them with Meta Knight behind the wheel.
"Get in."
The two complied and hopped in the back seat.
"Meta Knight, what's going on?" Fumu asked the knight.
"The small earthquake was not a normal occurrence. It came from the direction of Iceberg." Meta Knight explained.
"So, we're driving to the object of danger, why?" Bun asked.
"Because Kirby is there."
Fumu's heart stopped beating for a second. "Is it related to Kirby? Is he in trouble?"
The blue knight was quiet for a moment before carefully answering. "Most likely, Kirby will be involved."
"Do you know what it is?"
"It involves the darkness over Dreamland."
Fumu huffed, they already knew what it was coming from and Meta Knight knew that too. What she needed to know was what IT was.
Bun felt the need to ask a question that had been on his mind since they were in the car.
"Hey Meta Knight, how can you drive if you can't reach the pedals?"
Sword and Blade appeared from the floorboards.
"We push the brakes and gas pedals." Blade answered.
Sailor Dee peeked out from the seat next to Meta Knight. "I get to push the buttons that activate the weapons!"
Fumu and Bun had never seen the Waddle Dee before, so they were quite confused at the presence of the newcomer.
"Um, who are you?" Fumu asked.
"I'm Sailor Dee! I've been employed by Sir Meta Knight sir dude." The Waddle Dee happily answered.
"Employed for what?" Fumu asked, thinking that something seemed suspicious.
Sword popped up from the floorboards again. "He's sort of like our intern. He helps us with stuff."
"What kind of stuff?" Fumu asked while Bun groaned at his sister's growing number of questions.
Blade sprung from the floorboards. "Everyone be quiet so Sir Meta Knight can watch the road!"
Sword and Blade returned to the pedals while Meta Knight was focused on driving, not paying much attention to the previous conversation. Sailor Dee's attention was on reading the colorful buttons's labels.
Fumu sighed and watched the scenery around them. Everyone was being so secretive, she wasn't sure what to do anymore.
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On the fourth path, Nago returned to the other animal friends while ChuChu joined Kirby and Gooey.
Kirby and his friends had felt the rumble go through Iceberg, but disregarded it as a moving glacier. They were very common around this region after all.
They continued on their way through the snowy landscape, until they were stopped by someone. A brown mollusk without a shell approached the trio.
"My name is Nametsumuri, I've lost my shell. Could you help me find it?" He asked.
The trio agreed and left to find the missing shell. They found the shell a short time later half buried under the snow. The three heaved and carried the surprisingly heavy shell to it's owner.
"Oh thank you!" Nametsumuri put his shell back on. The shell was orange with a pink swirl. Kirby wondered if this mollusk was one of Escargon's relatives.
The trio was rewarded with a Heart Star for their help.
On the fifth path, ChuChu left and Nago rejoined the trio.
"Hey, is it okay if I check on my girlfriend? She lives here and I want to make sure she's okay." Nago asked.
Gooey tilted. "You have a girlfriend?"
"Yeah, her name is Shiro. Her fur is white as the newly fallen snow."
Gooey chuckled to himself. It seemed a lot of people were being bitten by the love bug.
They stopped at a little house and went inside.
Shiro was inside as if she had been waiting for them. Her fur was a pure white and had she had large brown eyes.
Nago ran to embrace his girlfriend. She returned the gesture and looked him in the eyes.
"You're here to track down the king, isn't that right?" Shiro asked.
The trio was surprised at her knowledge.
Gooey stuttered "How…How did-"
"I heard about a pink puffball and his friends traveling to find a king. I assumed that you were helping him."
Kirby approached Shiro. "Did Shiro see where Dedede went?"
Shiro pointed outside her window to a blue tower. "He floated that way. You should go there if you want to find him."
Shiro turned to Nago. "Good luck. I can't for us to spend time together again."
She held Nago's paw for a moment, then placed a Heart Star in his palm.
On the sixth path, Kirby and Gooey were joined by Pitch.
They noticed a small fairy-like creature in distress. The small being approached them.
"Hello, my name is Angel. I've lost some of my feathers. I can't fly home until I get them back." she said.
Angel had short yellow hair around her shoulders and wore a baby blue and white dress with a red ribbon. A halo was over her head .
The three agreed to find the angel's missing feathers.
They searched high and low, finding that the feathers were spread about. However, they managed to find them all and returned them to Angel.
"Thank you!" She held the feathers close and they reattached to the wings on her back. Angel handed the trio a sparkling Heart Star.
"If you hadn't helped me, I wouldn't be going home to Ripple Star now." She floated up into the air and disappeared.
Kirby and Gooey finally arrived at the icy tower. Their search should be coming to an end. They scaled the frozen tower, finding no sign of Dedede.
They reached the top of the foreboding tower to find a familiar sight.
"Dedede, poyo!" Kirby rushed to the missing king and tackled him into a hug. Dedede looked down at Kirby with tightly closed eyes. He grabbed Kirby and tore him off of his person, then threw him into Gooey.
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The duo stood up in a daze from the impact. Dedede approached them with an emotionless glare. He swung his hammer carelessly. The two easily dodged and ran behind Dedede. Kirby inhaled a star and spit it at Dedede.
The king started to spin around and attempted to stomp on Gooey. He inhaled a star too and repelled it at the insane king. Dedede staggered to the ground, then picked himself up. He spun around again, almost squishing Kirby in the process.
Kirby inhaled another star and spat it at Dedede. The king swung his hammer at Gooey in a lazy fashion and Gooey flung one more star at the king.
Dedede groaned in pain and fell to the ground. Kirby and Gooey cautiously approached the fallen king, fearing they might have done permanent damage. Then a dark aura surrounded the king. A miserable look formed on his face, then he began floating through the air.
Kirby tilted his head in confusion while a mortified expression occupied Gooey's face.
Dedede grimaced and fidgeted in the air for a moment. His eyes were open as wide as his face would allow. The king's mouth was open as if he were trying to scream in agony as a hole began tearing it's way through his stomach. A large gaping mouth with sharp bladed teeth had formed on the king's stomach. The extra mouth opened wide with a red eye glaring back at them from the inside.
The poor king could only utter small sounds of pain. "He…ple…Heee…"
Kirby looked at the once proud king in horror while Gooey hid behind the pink puffball and gave a soft wail.
Dedede floated after them with his extra mouth making gnashing sounds. The duo scurried out of the way, fearing the now transformed king. The eye reappeared and created several black blobs to follow them.
Kirby regained his senses and inhaled the dark blob, sending it back into the eye. Dedede winced in pain from the attack. The pink Star Warrior didn't want to fight him, but he didn't have any other option.
The mouth on Dedede's stomach opened again, black teeth gleaming in the little light that could reach through the dark clouds. The eye returned to shoot several black spheres at Kirby and Gooey.
Gooey braced himself and inhaled one of the blobs and spit it back at the eye. The king's eyes widened and his mouth flew open, but no sound would come from his throat.
Dedede could only dangle in the air with misery as the mouth snarled. Kirby repelled one more dark sphere at the eye. The eye glared at the duo before Dedede fell onto the surface of the tower. His eyes open wide in shock. Kirby and Gooey exchanged worried glances, afraid that this was the end of the king.
The Heart Stars they collected began to circle around the tower, pulling the darkness out of Iceberg. All that remained of the darkness was one giant black cloud in the sky.
Dedede was still motionless, beginning to scare Kirby and Gooey. Then the king moaned for a moment and shifted a small amount. Dreamland's monarch was still among the living, but was possibly hurt his battle and painful transformation.
The two heard what sounded like a car driving to the tower. Suddenly, the rest of Kirby's group arrived. Rick, Coo, Kine, Nago, Pitch, and ChuChu ran to Kirby and Gooey.
"We saw the fight from below! Are you two okay?" Rick asked.
"Kirby is fine, poyo. Gooey?" Kirby looked toward Gooey, who still looked somewhat shaken. The blue blob gave a slight nod.
"Kirby, I thought you might have…" ChuChu ran to Kirby and gave him a slight squeeze in worry. Kirby blushed, but returned the hug.
Then, a small party appeared from the tower's steps. Fumu, Bun, Sword, Blade, Meta Knight, and Sailor Dee raced to the pink Star Warrior.
"Kirby!" Fumu shouted. "Are you okay, Kirby?"
"Kirby is fine, poyo…but Dedede…" Kirby glanced at the king, the gaping mouth on his stomach was still there.
Fumu and Bun looked at him in awe.
Bun shook his head. "I don't know if I should be amazed or cover my eyes in horror. This is nightmarish."
Everyone watched as the extra mouth slowly disappeared from the Dedede's stomach.
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Then the ground began to shake again, but more violently than before. The single dark cloud above them flashed a black aura, then a familiar being formed in front of them.
"So…we meet again…Star Warrior…"
"Dark Matter!" Fumu growled under her breath. Dark Matter was in it's true form.
"Yes…Fumu?"
Fumu tensed. How did it know her name?
"How…how do you know my name?" Fumu shivered.
"I know many things about all of you…" It turned to the rest of the group.
"Rick the hamster, who resides in Grass Land…" Dark Matter glanced at Rick.
"Coo the owl…you live in Big Forest. You're seen as the wise man among the other animals."
"Kine the ocean sunfish…you have made your home in Ripple Field and recently married." Kine shook in fear.
"Nago the cat… you had to move from your home because you were framed…for thievery, correct?" Nago gasped at Dark Matter's accuracy.
"Pitch the bird…you live on the islands of Ripple Field and ran away from home. You're mother missed you, but let you continue with Kirby…because she loved you…what a ridiculous sentiment." Pitch internally scowled at Dark Matter.
"ChuChu the flapjack octopus…you moved from your home because it was destroyed…and I can see the pathetic emotions that you feel…for someone…" ChuChu blushed angrily.
"Fumu, the cabinet minister's daughter…and Bun…Fumu's brother…"
Dark Matter faced Sword and Blade. "You joined Meta Knight…because he saved your life…after you tried to rob him…" Meta Knight stepped in front of his knaves and the siblings protectively.
"And Meta Knight…one of the highest ranking soldiers in the Galactic Star Army…How does it feel to know that after you fought so bravely…it ultimately amounted to nothing…because almost all of the Star Warriors are dead…" Meta Knight's eyes turned a dark red in anger.
"Kirby…the Star Warrior that defeated Nightmare…and defeated me as well…you have brought much misfortune upon me…"
"So, what's your point? You know a lot about us?" Bun said irritated.
"I know about you…because I'm everywhere…I could be anywhere at any given time…"
Dark Matter began to float around idly.
"Oh, I have forgotten someone…" It glared at Gooey, who was trying to make himself unseen.
"What could be wrong…? Could it be your hiding something from everyone…?" Dark Matter watched Gooey squirm, getting more panicked with each passing second.
"Gooey? What is Dark Matter talking about?" Kirby asked his scared friend, who inched away from him.
"He has not told you…? About who he is…where he came from…? Who his relatives are…?" Gooey emitted a sob as Dark Matter flew closer.
Fumu glanced at Dark Matter then Gooey with growing curiosity and suspicion.
"Very well then…I guess it does not matter anyway…they would not mind if I said…" Gooey was hyperventilating as each word came from Dark Matter.
"You are one of us…a part of me…related, as some would say…"
A few stepped away from the blue blob in shock, but not Kirby.
"Gooey, poyo…say it isn't true…" Kirby looked at his friend in the eyes.
Gooey backed away from Kirby, sobbing in fear and loathing.
"I'm sorry Kirby…but I'm a member of Dark Matter…"
Author's Note: Gasp! Gooey is one of Dark Matter! I'm not making this up, in the Kirby's Dream Collection booklet, it confirms Gooey's species as a benign Dark Matter. So dramatic. Reviews make me happy.