Authors Note: Thank you for the reviews! New Chapter Time!
Side Note: Kirby and all of his friends and Kirby64 are owned by Nintendo and Hal.
Chapter 4: An Unexpected Outcome
Within another flash of light a familiar bright blue crystal spewed out from the eye.
Then another.
And finally one more and resting on that last crystal was the small form of a familiar fairy companion, Ribbon. Her sleeping, or otherwise out cold, body lay upon it, though she kept a tight grip on the sparkling crystal.
Speeding through the bloody screen and slipping off of the shard as it neared her friends. Landing, as if the crystal had planned it, right beside Kirby.
"Ribbon!" The three remaining heroes shouted in a mixture of both surprise and joy.
"But is she?" Adeleine began when suddenly their enemy, who had quickly recovered, began shooting what appeared to be dark arrows. The group did their best to avoid them. With Waddle's parasol coming in much more handy as a shield now, though it slowly began withering.
Adeleine took a breath then tried her best at finishing the 1Up.
"Move it Adeleine!" The King yelled, trying to whack the arrows back at Zero-three, though having a lot less luck than he had earlier with the dark shards of crystal.
"Euh..." Ribbon gave a soft cry of pain. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around.
Everything appeared blurry.
She could just barely see the blurbs of The King and Waddle doing their best at fighting- some presumably odd evil creature and Adeleine...painting?
It wasn't until her eyes met the pink blob before her that it all suddenly clicked in her mind.
She could still barely see but now had no trouble remembering what she had done. It seemed to be coming to her in quick flashes of memory.
Calling out his name she tried to blink the filmy blur away to be sure it was him.
Hearing the call Adeleine took a quick look back and could immediately see the damage that had been done to cause Ribbon's possessed state to have swallowed her into a much stronger transformation.
Her eyes.
Pupils dilated, with small fractures in her irises, only barely hidden by what appeared to be the early signs of glazy cataracts. No one was sure of how dark matter could be so poisonous to one who, at the time, was shielded by that very darkness, but it was a question no one really wished to find the answer to.
Adeleine felt a chill from the look on her oblivious friend's face but before the fairy could speak the painter girl went back to work, ready to add the finishing touches to the piece, and just in time too.
"ADELEINE!" The King called, "I-I CAN'T KEEP THIS UP! ...A-And...I don't think Waddle Dee can n-neither..."
"Okay, okay...and...DONE!" And within seconds the item popped out of the picture and followed the wave of the girl's paintbrush into Kirby.
For a moment all was still. Ribbon, now closer beside Kirby, gave him a gentle push.
Nothing.
"Wake up Kirby!" Ribbon finally shouted at once.
And with that shriek the pink puff slowly opened his eyes. He was astonished at the sight of Ribbon. Ready to start a parade! He saved his friend. It only took a matter of seconds though for the happiness to dissapear and fear set in his eyes.
Those dreadful little scars that sat across her face. The few red droplets that formed under her left eyelid. The cloudy gloss of her eyes.
He saved her, but at a cost? That never happened. It couldn't. A job well done usually called for celebration and cheer, no price being paid, just friends being thankful that no one was hurt.
Perhaps, he thought to himself, this was all just some nightmare.
That would explain all of this mess.
He lifted his stubby little arm to touch her, check if she-this was all real. Just as his little paw was about to make contact-
"KIRBY!" His trio of friends screamed. "GO BEAT ZERO!"
Kirby turned and nearly froze at the sight of what his enemy had become.
The King spoke up, "I think ya gotta use the Shard Gun like ya did with- WHOA!" Waddle Dee's shield parasol had fully dissolved and the group was in more danger than before.
Kirby stood ready, refusing to even ask Ribbon, in her condition, to try to help. Not that he got the chance to really refuse as he was suddenly lifted into the air by the fairy and was handed the Crystal Shard gun by her.
The pink hero looked up to his friend who, by now, had no trouble in carrying his only slightly weighty form upwards.
He began babbling in his language again, that oddly enough, only Ribbon made an effort to fully learn and succeeded at.
She shook her head to his words, her own sounding tired and weary, "I'm fine Kirby. But if I don't help you then everyone else will not be fine. They'll be gone and that... That scares me almost as much as remembering how I...hurt you..."
Kirby spoke once more as he cocked the gun and aimed for the giant ugly eye.
Ribbon smiled, "I know, I'm so thankful that you're okay now, but me being possessed was still no excuse." She began to sway a little out of the way of Zero-three's shots as she watched the shards from Kirby's gun stab at the beast.
"BWA!" Kirby was suddenly hit.
"I'm sorry Kirby! I still can't see very well."
He sadly nodded then continued shooting.
Ribbon smiled, "Just sway in which direction I should go."
"Bah?"
"Yes, just keep swaying a little and I'll use that to keep us safe."
The duo continued for a while. Kirby got knocked down to three Hp while Zero-three still lingered at five, though at least it wasn't ten anymore.
Hope was gleaming in their eyes as they got a few more perfect shots in.
The trio on the ground was cheering loudly as Kirby and Ribbon were trying their best. They knocked Zero down another point, then another. Then- His Hp refilled.
"WHAT!" Ribbon gasped.
"BWAAA!" Kirby yelled.
"BUT HOW!" The King Cried.
"OH COME ON!" Adeleine shouted as Waddle Dee fainted.