Authors Note: Thank you again to my reviewers! Longer chapter- which means bit of a longer wait for the next new one, not too long though ;)
Side Note: Kirby and all of his friends and Kirby64 are owned by Nintendo and Hal (who really need to bring them all back (¬_¬))
Chapter 5: The Missing Piece
"Why? Why isn't..." Ribbon's useless eyes shone with despair. It was as if every bit of hope they gained had gone as suddenly as it came, leaving the group with nothing left to hang onto.
It was then that Kirby began speaking to his friend once again.
He spoke of how each final enemy he had to fight almost always had a weakness to whatever item or collective of items Kirby started his journeys for. And if he didn't expect the battle or was overwhelmed, then he always gained the powerful final weapon right before it began.
Things always had a magnificent way of working themselves out for the pink puff.
"But Kirby... What have we collected?" She shook her head with doubt.
The answer? ...Nothing.
And so they had nothing.
Sure they read the Scrolls, but they couldn't take those with them, nor was there any mention of a way to defeat the monster.
Adeleine stared at her two floating friends as they dangled in the air, seeming now to be talking as they pathetically- but successfully- dodged their enemies attacks. "This just isn't our day is it?" She looked to the penguin and their smaller burgundy coated companion, only to turn back towards Kirby and Ribbon. "What are you guys doing?" She finally shouted.
At the call of their friend the talking instantly ceased and Kirby began trying to shoot at their enemy again, though this time it was all in vain. But he was at least able to hold Zero-three off for as long as he could as he tried to come up with a solution.
So... That was the purpose of kidnapping Ribbon, then?
So they would have no crystal shards, no heart stars or star rod bits, not a single thing to collect to form a weapon. And nothing handed to him to fight with either.
Their only obvious current weapon- was stalling for time.
The dark shards flew through the air and nearly pummeled the flying duo. But their main concern at the moment was more about making sense of everything that now stood before them. Continuously dodging the shots from the beast with great ease.
Kirby was suddenly reminded how very thankful he was that even with little to no vision, Ribbon was still quite the helper friend.
...Ribbon?
It was then that his mind put the pieces together. How to solve this troublesome task that had been testing Kirby and his friends all along the way had been right in front of him the whole time.
She was what was collected, so to speak. But obviously she wasn't the weapon, or at least, her crystal shards weren't.
Heck, right now she could barely...even see... because of...
That painful sting of his pure yet noticeably guilty heart tugged at him.
It was his fault she couldn't see now, perhaps forever blinded. He should have known she would be put in so much danger. How could he not have been able to see such an outcome when the fight was so unpredictable from even the very start. How could he-
"NO!" Kirby shouted at himself. He was done thinking that way. He hastily spoke a few words and swayed for Ribbon to land.
Holding him a little tighter as she grew weary she made a soft landing near their other companions, getting hit only once more on their way down.
Adeleine handed Waddle Dee a new parasol and watched as Dedede ran closer to Zero and began hitting the dark shards just out of range, keeping his friends safe.
The trio had decided that if Kirby and Ribbon were feeling tired and low on health that they would take the initiative and try to at least stall Zero-three for them just as they had done earlier.
Kirby was quiet for a moment and stared at the clueless fairy girl. She still didn't know exactly what was blocking her vision but wasn't really in the mood to find out.
The pink hero moved his little paws to her eyelids, bringing them down gently. Trusting his odd behavior she said nothing.
His other friends stopped for a moment in a curious awe at Kirby as his own eyes were set on the girl before him, just staring. His mind wondering.
What is it? What can be done?
How was Ribbon the key to it all?
He needed an answer, something to tell him. Any kind of hint or clue had to hit him sometime soon...
Something... Anything... NOW!
The screen flashed white in three quick traces and suddenly, it all made sense. The two shared a quick glance, though Kirby's went unnoticed by Ribbon's fleeting vision. Despite that, the fairy girl gave him a kind smile as she took her ribbon off and handed it to him.
He held it close to his heart and it immediately began to glow in a beautiful golden aura. It was then that the red ribbon transformed into a large enchanted bow-and-arrow.
Easily recognizable was the arrow head that was a smaller replica of a sparkling blue crystal shard. A sense of powerful energy radiating from it.
The arrows fletching resembled Ribbon's home planet, Ripple Star- her heart, her home.
The limbs were a larger form of the red ribbon she always wore in her hair- her name, her identity.
Kirby gleefully held the weapon in the air above his head.
[Kirby Obtained: Ribbon-And-Arrow (Love-Heart Arrow)]
He smiled at his friend then simply nodded as he and Ribbon got ready to take lift off.
"Hey wait you guys."
The two stopped and turned to see Adeleine as she finished up another work of art, a Maxim Tomato. With a wave of her brush the item flew to Kirby, who took no time in jumped up and eating it, re-filling his health to the max.
"One for the road." The painter girl winked. "Go get him you guys."
Kirby gave, a mouthful's worth, of a thank you as he gave Ribbon's hand a light touch, signaling that he was ready to take flight and end this once and for all.
"Kirby." King Dedede stopped him, "Good luck out there."
Waddle Dee, who stood next to the King, nodded.
And with all lost hope being fully restored Ribbon grabbed Kirby and lifted him into the air to try again at the relentless final battle for a third and hopefully final time.
Zero-Three continued shooting Dark Arrows, taking hits and gradually spewing red gunk from the center of it's eye.
Once he was hit five times with the Love-Heart Arrow the blood seeping horns on his head became visible, both having to take three hits each as the creature they grew from flailed in painful ferocity. All the while a toxic green ooze threatened to tear through our heroes as they continued to fight.
After taking out the horns, in another attempt to prevail, the monster's tail grew in length and speed as he slashed in Kirby's direction. The fight was rapidly becoming more and more tedious. But Kirby wasn't the least bit afraid.
It was wondrous, invigorating even, how quickly Kirby had lost all of the fear that he previously clung so tightly too. The only feeling that now remained was the delicate grip of his fairy friend holding him, closer than any hold fear once had over him.
It would have caused a bit more pondering in the hero's mind but at the moment he was all too busy shooting shard after shard, whilst helping Ribbon doge, the poisonous tail that now followed them.
"What the heck! That thing is ridiculous!" Adeleine shouted.
"Duh!" The King scoffed, crossing his stubby winged arms, "Haven't ya been here the whole time all of that crazy crud was happening to Kirby and Ribbon? This is all crazy ya dummy."
Adeleine sighed as she ignored the biting comment. Her attention was now on Kirby and Ribbon who were still using the Love-Heart Arrow in a much more successful struggle against the ultimate foe. She watched as her friends began tearing through the evil that lashed out around them.
It seemed as though the fight lasted forever.
When all that was left for them to do was destroy the eye their hope was now seeping into celebration. The bulging eye shot out from it's now limp 'body' and squirt out the familiar scarlet liquid that, by now, the gang had seen all too much of.
Shooting, shooting. Another Arrow striking the erratic iris. Being splashed with bits of blood here and there from said enemy.
As the blood loss fully kicked in they began to notice that it was causing the eye to, seemingly, deflate. Nonetheless they continued to shoot at it until one Hp remained on him.
And then, none.
The room began to flash bright white all around them.
Within seconds, it was all over. Zero-three- and perhaps finally the entire entity of Zero itself- was dead.
The milky red sky that surrounded them began crumbling.
"Bah!" Kirby shouted as he was nearly hit by a falling piece of rock. Ribbon, grip still tight on her friend, followed as the others led the way out of the dark falling ruins.