Kirby and his friends arrived on the planet Rock Star. The planet was mostly made of rocks, sand, and ruins, but did have some sources of water. From space the planet looked unstable, the broken pieces of Rock Star were constantly being pulled together and pushed apart by it's own gravity.

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The group journeyed through the harsh desert, Kirby fought enemies with his newly obtained Electric Rock ability. They eventually stopped at the entrance of some ruins that bore a resemblance to Kabu.

Kirby entered the long since abandoned ruins. He noticed a sparkling object close to the ceiling. Climbing the rocks, he reached up to grab the crystal shard. With the crystal shard obtained, he found a hole in the ceiling and crawled through.

The next room was mostly covered in sand with a Big Kacti. Kirby fought the mid-boss and obtained it's crystal shard easily. When he entered the next room, sand began to fill the floor rapidly. Kirby climbed up the ladders to escape the sand. The pink puffball reached the ceiling with the sand still rising.

Suddenly, a hole crumbled through the ceiling. Waddle Dee had broken through the ruins from the outside. Waddle Dee grabbed Kirby's arm and pulled him out of the hole. They reached the outside without any harm.

"Kirby, look at that rock over there." Ribbon pointed. "I think there's a crystal shard in it."

The hero of Dreamland cracked the rock open with the Electric Rock ability and obtained another shard.

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Kirby's friends continued to another section of Rock Star. This part of the planet was more lush and green than other areas they've seen. They passed a line of stone pillars, almost getting squashed by them as the structures began to fall on the ground.

After avoiding a group of Mumbies, Kirby stopped at the top of a small stone tower. Unfortunately for the pink puffball, as soon as he sat down the floor caved in.

"Kirby, are you okay?!" Adeleine shouted.

Kirby returned a moment later with a crystal shard. There was a piece at the bottom of the tower, They would have missed it if he hadn't fallen through the stone.

Kirby's next action was to enter the ruins next to the tower.

There was a crystal shard hovering above a large pit below. He remembered what happened the last time this occurred. Kirby turned to Ribbon, letting her know he was about to jump. The pink puffball dove into the pit, grabbed the crystal, then flew up to the other side of the room.

Two more rooms were passed, then Kirby stopped in a room filled with several strong walls. King Dedede glanced at the rigid interior of the abandoned ruins.

"Kirby, get on my back." The king mumbled.

The Star Warrior happily complied, thinking Dedede was finally beginning to warm up to him.

"Now don't get any ideas. I'm not your buddy, I just don't want you to get hurt by any falling rocks." Dedede immediately back-pedaled when he realized that Kirby would get the impression of the king caring for him.

He glanced at the puffball clinging onto his back, a big grin plastered onto his face.

"I didn't mean it like that! You can't save Dreamland if you're knocked out, can you?!" Dedede protested.

Kirby nodded, the grin still there. Dedede shook his head and smashed the wall in front of them, then climbed a rope behind it. After a few more broken walls and ropes, they found a crystal shard and the exit.

The two regrouped with the others without harm.

"Alright, that's enough. Let go of me you little tumor." Dedede said when he noticed that Kirby was still on his back.

Kirby sighed and slumped off of the king's back. He thought that maybe Dedede had gotten used to his offers of friendship.

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The next area was an underground cavern deep within Rock Star. Despite being underground, there was some plant life in the cavern, being mostly cacti.

The bones of several creatures were scattered around as well, giving the surrounding area a somewhat foreboding vibe. Inside the skull of a long decomposed creature was a crystal shard. However, Kirby had no way of prying the jaw open to retrieve the shard.

He analyzed the rest of the skeleton and noticed a brittle point around the spine. Kirby used his Rock ability to break the soft spot and grab the crystal shard.

Continuing onward, the Star Warrior jumped into two more holes. He fell deeper into the cavern and fought a Big Fishbone. After the creature's defeat, the ground crumbled under, and descended into a room filled with flowing water.

Kirby noticed a sparkling shard a little ways from him. He grabbed the shard, jumped down another hole, then proceeded to explore the expansive underground caverns of Rock Star.

After going through a few rooms, Kirby found an underground pool. He swam downward, fighting the current trying to push him towards the surface. Beginning in another portion of the pool, he swam upwards. Dodging the hostile Fishbones and falling debris, Kirby fought to reach the crystal shard above. He grabbed the shard with all the strength he possessed, then exited the watery cavern.

"Kirby, are you okay?!" Adeleine asked the drenched puffball.

Kirby nodded slightly before coughing. Ribbon patted him on the back, resulting in Kirby spewing a mouthful of water on the sand of the surface.

"I think we should take a break." Waddle Dee suggested.

No one protested Waddle Dee's idea. The group of five sat down to regain their energy near a shady broken building.

As Kirby's coughs died down, the worried expression on Ribbon's face began to disappear. She sighed with relief.

"I thought that you might have been hurt."

Kirby shook his head. "It's okay. Star Warriors can stay underwater for a really long time without any damage, poyo. Kirby thinks we can survive in the water, poyo, it's just surprising when you first go onto the surface after you've been underwater for so long."

Ribbon tried to make sense of what he was trying to explain. Maybe it was because she wasn't familiar with Star Warrior habits.

"Kirby, exactly what is a Star Warrior?" Ribbon asked.

Kirby put his hand to his mouth in deep thought. He didn't want to confuse Ribbon further with his odd explanations.

Dedede spoke up. "It's basically whatever Kirby is. I think. Meta Knight would talk about them all the time when Nightmare was in business."

Kirby's sweat dropped. "That's… pretty much what Kirby was trying to say, poyo…"

Dedede snorted. "Looks like you've been getting tongue-tied whenever you try to talk to your girlfriend."

Ribbon blushed. "Dedede, stop tormenting him."

Adeleine glanced at Kirby, noticing he had grown very quiet. "Kirby, are you okay?"

"Did something that Dedede said make you upset?" Ribbon flew to Kirby's side.

"Hey, I didn't do anything!" The king protested.

Kirby shook his head. "No, that's not it." He sighed.

Waddle Dee sat next to King Dedede, who shrugged in confusion.

"Then what is it? You can tell us." Adeleine said gently.

"It's just…Kirby's never really met any of Kirby's kind poyo…" Kirby uttered. "Kirby doesn't really know anything about where Kirby came from …except from what Meta Knight has said, poyo."

"It's true." Dedede crossed his arms. "You showed up in Dreamland when you were a baby. You couldn't even talk. All you could say was 'poyo'."

Kirby stood up. "Meta Knight said that Star Warriors fought against Nightmare in the war, poyo. He said… he was one of the few survivors…" Kirby looked up into the sky. "Does that mean that all the Star Warriors, poyo…are dead?"

They all knew that the conversation had taken a more depressing direction. No one knew what to say. After a long silence, Dedede spoke up.

"Kirby, we aren't the people that would know. What's important is that you're here now and…well…you've changed people's lives. Fumu and Bun namely."

Kirby smiled at the mention of his two Cappy friends. The king was right, he was here now and had people around that loved him. Although Kirby wanted to know more about his origins, he wouldn't trade the life he has now to know.

"You're right Dedede, Kirby is happy with Kirby's friends, poyo!" Kirby squeezed the king of Dreamland.

Adeleine made a sound that sounded like an 'aww' to the king, while Ribbon and Waddle Dee chuckled at the king's embarrassed state.

Dedede blushed and pushed Kirby away, but not violently. "I'm not your friend you little pink leech."

Kirby giggled as if the upsetting conversation had never taken place. Still tired, the group decided to sit down a little longer.
Waddle Dee sidled next to Dedede. "That was really nice, what you said to Kirby."

"I didn't mean any of it! I just wanted him to quit moping around and being all depressing." Dedede grumbled.

Waddle Dee shook in disagreement. "No, your not an evil king like some of Dreamland may say. You're a nice king sometimes with a good heart, you just make bad decisions sometimes."

"What do you know?!" Dedede huffed.

Secretly, he was actually flattered that Waddle Dee had praised him so honestly. However, Dedede was not about to let a stray Waddle Dee that wandered the fields of Dreamland aimlessly, also being unemployed and far below him, know that his words had phased the king's heart.

Dedede did have a reputation to uphold after all.

The reconstruction of the Halberd continued underneath the castle.

The tailpipe was completely repaired, much to Sailor Dee's joy as he didn't have to wear a gas mask anymore. The inside of the hood now had it's necessary parts in the right order.

There was still much work that needed to be done. The wings of the once mighty airship needed serious modifications. The inside of the Halberd was in need of desperate cleaning.

The four stepped inside of the ship, almost fearful of what may lie within. It was as if a tornado, earthquake, and a flood had taken place inside. Everything was scattered about with no order of any kind. The plumbing pipes had burst at one point, leaving some of the floors wet. It appeared something similar to mold was growing in some spots.

Sailor Dee whiffed then covered his face. The three knights walked around in search of the origin of the scent. It was a leaking gas pipe.

Sword shook his head. "Sailor Dee, you may want to get the gas mask again."

Sailor Dee gave out a cry of frustration, then retrieved his mask. Meta Knight could only look on at the complete disaster that was the inside of his ship. His once glorious ship was now nothing more than a dump. The Halberd could shine as bright as the sun on the outside, but it meant nothing if the inside was a home for garbage. He knew the ship was in need of repair, but didn't even fathom that it was this severe.

"Sir Meta Knight, can this ship even be repaired in this state?" Sword asked uncertain.

"We have no choice." Meta Knight sighed. "We have spent too much time, funds, and effort to suddenly quit."

Blade nodded. "You're right. It would be a waste to leave it like this. Even though I'm not looking forward to cleaning it either…"

The team of four spent a moment of silence wondering who had to do what. Finally, it was decided that Sailor Dee and Meta Knight would fix the gas pipes as it was an issue that needed immediate attention. Sword and Blade would remove the debris and strange wild plants that had taken growth.

Sword stared at a mound of the odd mold-like growth. "Blade, I think it just moved!" Sword drew his weapon and pointed it towards the offending substance.

"You're just imagining it Sword." Blade called from the other side of the room.

"No, really! It's twitching!" Sword poked it with his weapon.

"You're just saying that so I'll do your work."

Sword growled, then picked it up with his sword and shook it into his garbage bag. He shuddered in disgust when he realized that it was only one of several growths he would have to dispose of.

Sailor Dee shone a flashlight on the gas pipe him and Meta Knight were repairing.

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"The pipe busted here, and it has a few cracks here. The lines lead over there and…" Sailor Dee explained to the rest of the group. Sword and Blade weren't really paying attention to the Waddle Dee's continuous explanation.

Meta Knight cleared his throat. "In other words. This pipeline continues throughout the entire ship."

Sailor Dee nodded in agreement. "If a flammable substance were to mix with this leaking gas, it will cause an explosion the likes of which Dreamland has never seen!" He waved his arms for emphasis.

Meta Knight knew of the danger this leak could cause, not only for them, but the entire castle. An airship of the Halberd's size needed plenty of fuel, so much that if it exploded like Sailor Dee claimed, it could possibly wipe out most of Dreamland.

Sword groaned as he tried to scrape some of the mold-like substance off the floor. "Ugh, maybe I can burn it off." He pulled out a lighter from his satchel.

Blade ran to his partner. "Sword, NO!" Blade snatched the lighter out of his hands then stuffed it into his own bag.

"What was that for?!" Sword asked.

"Don't you know that when gas and fire mix it creates an explosion?!"

Sailor Dee scurried over to the two knights. "It would have been bigger than a regular explosion! It would have taken out most of Dreamland probably!"

The two knights turned to their superior. "Sir Meta Knight, is this true?" Blade asked.

"It is true. The Halberd requires a special type of fuel that is eight times more flammable than regular gas. This fuel flows throughout the entire ship, with the pipeline broken…"

Sword and Blade gulped. They had realized just what sort of danger they were toying with. Sword trembled. He had almost caused a mass explosion that would have taken them and the entire town with it.

"What was I thinking?" Sword slumped to the ground in shock.

Blade steadied his companion back on his feet. "You just weren't thinking. We'll have to be very careful when we're working."

Meta Knight nodded his head. "This is an operation that will require precision and must be delicately dealt with. The pipelines and gas leaks need to be given priority."

Everyone agreed with the blue knight. This wasn't about the ship anymore. They couldn't leave the pipes alone otherwise it would meet something flammable on it's own. This would be a delicate procedure and King Dedede would not be happy to find that Dreamland and his castle had been blown to kingdom come.

If the explosion didn't kill them then Dedede would.

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Kirby and his friends continued wandering the desert of Rock Star. In the distance they could see a large black prism shaped building. Kirby inhaled a Skud nearby and gained the Bomb ability. He stepped on a purple platform below the building as it rose into the air.

Upon closer inspection, the building was actually once a spaceship. The internal workings glowed faintly in the dark. The small cannons on the walls began to fire at the intruder. Kirby sidestepped their ammunition until the platform stopped moving.

The room above had several moving panels of different colors. Kirby maneuvered through them, almost getting squished against the wall once. A Spark-I attacked Kirby from behind as he made his way to the top of the room. He threw his Bomb ability at the enemy and combined to create the Light Bulb ability. Kirby noticed a crystal shard inside a grey rectangular area and dove to grab the it before the panels closed him in.

He climbed up the hole in the ceiling and met Adeleine. This room had three pictures on the wall, however it was too dark to recognize what they were. Kirby used his Light Bulb ability, illuminating the once dark room. The pictures were a star, a cloud, and the moon.

"The pictures are pretty, but what do they mean?" Adeleine mused.

Kirby couldn't think of a reasonable answer and decided to continue to the next room. There were tiles on the floor with pictures on them.

"Oh, one of them is a cloud!" Adeleine pointed.

"And another is the moon and one is a star, poyo!"

They understood the meaning of the pictures. Kirby pressed the star tile first, then the cloud, and finally the moon. A crystal shard fell from the ceiling in front of Kirby. He climbed the glowing ladder that lead to an opening in the ceiling.

Kirby made his way through the next room with the moving blocks, then battled a Big Spark-I. After it's defeat it dropped a crystal shard. He climbed the ladder through the ceiling and escaped the spaceship.

Kirby wondered what possibly happened to the spaceship to cause it's landing on Rock Star. Perhaps it was a warship in the battle against Nightmare. Then what happened to the inhabitants of the ship? He decided not to dwell too deeply on the subject.

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Kirby proceeded into the next area where Ribbon had sensed a crystal shard. He stepped onto what appeared to be a sunken tower. However, the moment he set foot onto the structure, it began moving upward.

Suddenly, a red octahedral crystal appeared. A blade of the same color was projected from the crystal as it followed Kirby around the structure. Then a green crystal of the same shape appeared and followed the same action as the red. A blue crystal appeared a few moments after the green.

The elevator-like structure was still moving upward. Kirby had no way of attacking them, could only dodge as they spun around him. Finally, the elevator came to a stop at the peak of the building. Kirby noticed some strange atom formations alongside the crystals. He inhaled a blue colored formation and spat it at the red crystal. It continued it's attack unfazed.

Kirby decided a different approach would be best. The pink puffball inhaled the red atom and repelled it at the red crystal. It flashed yellow for a moment then turned transparent. It harmlessly phased through him as it passed by.
He repeated the process with a green atom and hurled it at the crystal of the same color. The green crystal had turned transparent as well. The Star Warrior raced to the blue atom and threw it at the blue crystal. The three transparent crystal enemies hovered in the center of the platform, then joined together and created a small explosion. A crystal shard fell from the platform into Kirby's arms.

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The five man band roamed the harsh desert of Rock Star. The sand was cruel and unforgiving, sometimes getting flung in their eyes when a stray gust of wind would blow. It seemed to stretch on and on for eternity. Nothing but miles of sand, bleached white dirt.

Kirby's friends felt like they had swallowed a few pounds of sand and their feet were beginning to itch and ache. There were only thin clouds in the sky, nothing to block out the blazing sun that scorched them like an angry woman.

"My feet are starting to hurt and this heat is starting to get to me." Dedede mumbled.

Ribbon drooped as she flew. "What are we doing here? Who are you?" She shook her head to snap out of her heat-induced delusion.

"You know, before I came here I thought there was just sand in the desert. There's actually rocks and cacti too. Whoopee." Waddle Dee said flatly.

Adeleine swayed in the heat, trying to keep her mind straight. The red beret on her head was doing nothing to protect her from the sun's rays. Then she realized that some thing was amiss.

She turned around, then called for the rest of the group's attention. Kirby was lying face down in the sand, barely moving except for a few twitches. He raised up and reached out into the air.

He looked at his friends then gasped. "Adeleine is an apple! A juicy red apple!"

Adeleine tilted her head. "Kirby, are you okay? Do you need help?"

Kirby turned to Dedede. "Dedede is…a strawberry shortcake, poyo!"

Dedede and Waddle Dee looked at each other. The king shrugged his shoulders.

Kirby stared at Waddle Dee. "Waddle Dee…he's turned into a drumstick!"

A bit of drool formed at the corner of Kirby's mouth. His eyes widened.

"Ribbon is a strawberry, poyo. Probably because she's so sweet." Kirby blushed at his thoughts.

The four were getting increasingly worried for Kirby's condition. He was looking at them with large eyes and an unsettling grin.

Kirby snapped out of his hallucination. He realized that under the severe heat he had begun to see his friends as food. He slumped back on the sand in defeat.

"Hungry…poyo…"

The four looked at the pink puffball in concern. Dedede knew that Kirby was always wanting to eat and him being hungry on a normal occasion wasn't a cause for concern. However, he also knew this was different situation. They hadn't thought to pack any food for their journey. An error that will be henceforth known as, mistake number one.

Adeleine suddenly clapped her hands, an idea had struck her.

A few minutes later, they were sitting on the ground enjoying their food. Kirby was munching on an apple and a strawberry shortcake. King Dedede was tearing into a drumstick and Waddle Dee bit into a large strawberry. Adeleine was eating a sandwich while painting an apple on her portable canvas. Once the apple was finished, it rolled off the paper and into Ribbon's arms.

"I knew that you could bring your paintings to life, but I didn't think it would work for food." Waddle Dee said between bites.

Adeleine giggled. "Are you glad I came along?"

A loud 'yes' resounded from the rest of the group.

The slightly bigger Crystal of Joy began to glow, floating in the air above them. It opened a portal to their next destination. Ribbon flew into the portal, along with Dedede, Adeleine , and Waddle Dee.

Kirby was absorbed into his strawberry shortcake, taking small bites to savor the taste. He hadn't even noticed the portal or his friends's absence. Dedede popped out of the portal behind Kirby and grabbed him. The pink puffball dropped his cake in surprise as the king yanked him into the portal.

"Kirby wasn't finished with that, poyo!"

Author's Note:I'm back. It was a small hiatus, but I'm back after being sick. I would have updated sooner if it wasn't for that. You might have noticed the links in the chapters. It's music for the area or scene in the story. You don't have to listen to them, but it's there if you want it. Anyway, reviews are welcome.