Le update! Voila! Hee...anyways welcome to another looooooong chapter. Thanks for your review again Xanxi. Yeah...I'm not trying to throw off you viewing audience with my story...or am I? Ahem...anwyays, I think you'll find the answer to your other question soon enough. On with the story!

Disclaimer stuff: Kirby and all characters that happen to fall under that franchise are owned by Nintendo and Hal. I don't care if you use any original characters that I make, however, it'd be nice if I get some credit for them. Enough legal junk, let's get on with the story.

Chapter 10

Elves That Make You Go Pop

Waddle Dee walked into Dedede's throne room to see them watching a large screen. Kirby was on the screen. Waddle Doo turned to him. "Dee! Where have you been? You know more about this kid than any of us. We need info."

Dee sighed. "Sorry, cuz. I'll make sure not to get left behind anymore…"

"Humph. Honestly, there's no good help these days. Sire, allow me to apologize for my cousins tardiness. I assure you that there will be consequences."

Dedede nodded, not paying attention. "Yeah, whatever. Hey you, Tweedle Dee-"

"Waddle…sir."

"I don't pay ya to counterdict me! Just tell me what I wanna know! Now, who is this kid anways?"

Dee sighed again. "…His name is Kirby, sire. You saw him at Kawasaki's when you decided to close his business…"

"Hey, that's right! He was the little twerp who attacked me! Waddle Doo, arrest Kawasaki and that Stoney guy!"

"Right away, Sire!" Waddle Dee ran out of the room with some of Dedede's guards.

Dee breathed heavily after Doo left. Alright…I can do this. Don't be nervous…"So…Sire. Just out of curiosity, um…what exactly are we, uh going to do with the Sparkling Stars?"

"Huh? Hey, I'm the ruler here! You don't go asking me questions about why I do what I do when I do it because I want to! Honestly, all you citizens and everybody else got no respect for me! That's all gonna change. Once we figure out the powers of the Sparkling Stars, people are gonna start payin' attention to me like they should! But that there Kirby's gonna be a problem. How long he had those powers anyways?"

"I've never seen them before, Sire. I don't know how he got those powers. Um…how are we watching Kirby, Sire?" asked Dee. If Dedede had been paying any attention to Dee, he would have noticed Dee glancing around nervously. Fortunately for Dee, he didn't.

"Heh heh heh. After those darn elves wouldn't hand over the Sparkling Star, we hid a little device to keep an eye on 'em. That cousin of yours designed it to look like a grasshopper. Heh heh heh, now we can spy on Kirby. He's got no clue so not only is he gathering the Sparkling Stars for us, but this way, we can find a way to beat 'im!" said Dedede confidently

"Of course, Sire. Would you like me to do anything for you now?" asked Dee, glad that his job was done for now.

"Yeah! Start fannin' me!" said Dedede. Before Dee picked up the palm frond, he looked up to the rafters at the top of the ceiling where Trila nodded toward Dee. She then silently hopped across them and exited the room through a window.

"That's right, Meta. It looks like King Dedede's taking of the Sparkling Stars was a simple power grab," finished Trila as she gave her report to Meta Knight.

"Alright," came Meta Knight's voice. "Is there anything else?"

"Yes. Apparently, Dedede is using some sort of device to spy on Kirby. Should I tell him?"

There was a pause for a moment, then, "No…we'll let Dedede keep an eye on Kirby for now…is there any sign at all that Dedede or his servants know that you're there?"

"No. The security of this castle is somewhat lacking. However, even though this Dedede seems to be a complete idiot, some servants of his that I've seen are a lot smarter and much more dangerous. I'll keep an eye on them." She closed the line to Meta Knight and snuck back into the throne room to watch Kirby's progress along with Dedede.

Kirby looked around him for the fifth time. Ever since he'd entered Whispy's Wood, he had a feeling that he was being followed. Then again, it was probably because he was completely lost. Every single tree looked exactly the same. Kirby sat down beside a tree for a minute to rest. Man, I have no idea where I'm going. Even if I wanted to leave…I still don't know my way out of the forest. I guess I could use the Warp Star…

Kirby had kept the Warp Star in his mouth ever since he had landed. Another strange power he had developed was that he could keep objects in his mouth and regurgitate them later when he needed to use them. He spat out the Warp Star, jumped on it and flew up. As he looked around he saw Castle Dedede in the distance. Closer though in the other direction was a small clearing in the middle of the forest. I could use that as a starting point, I guess. Wait, what's that? Kirby saw a strange cylindrical, grey object resting in the ground. He flew over to it.

He jumped off the Warp Star and walked near it. It was a strange device. It was a solid cylinder, a small green light softly beeped on top of it. Kirby got close to it and the light suddenly turned red and started to beep louder and faster. What is this…wait a minute! Realizing what it was, he turned and began to run, but it was too late. The object exploded sending Kirby right into a tree and then to the ground. He slowly lifted his head, only to notice that he was now surrounded by a bunch of elves, each one wearing the same, should-be-at-the-North-Pole outfit, but in different colors. One in blue jumped down from the tree above him and approached him. He got out a walkie-talkie and began speaking into it. "Big Blue, this is Little Blue. We got him. Your orders?"

"Keep him there. Find out why he's here. I'll be there soon."

"Roger. Over and out." The blue elf put away the walkie-talkie then turned to the other elves. "Alright, I want you guys to form a perimeter around the area." The other elves left while the blue one sat down in front of Kirby. "Look, I want to get this over with quickly so it'll be best if you cooperate with me. First tell me this: do you work for Dedede?"

"No. I'm here to return the Sparkling Star to its resting place at the Fountain of Dreams."

The blue-clothed elf frowned. "I'm afraid that makes us enemies. Why do you want to take the star away?"

Kirby decided to try and reason with him. "If the Sparkling Stars aren't returned to the Fountain, Dreamland will eventually die."

The elf's eyes widened slightly. "What? That's not what my older brother told me...I'll talk to him about this…who are you anyways?"

"I'm Kirby, just a citizen of Dreamland."

"You're more than that. I saw you battle Dedede's men. I'm not afraid to admit that I really don't want to be your enemy. But that's up to my brother. We are the Poppy Elves. I'm Poppy Brothers Junior. My older brother, Poppy Brothers Senior, is the leader of our clan."

"Little bro, I told you to get information from him, not become his best friend." Kirby and Poppy Bros. Jr. turned to see whom Kirby could only assume was "Big Blue". "Hmm…so this is the great warrior who defeated Dedede's army eh? You certainly are really small. Little bro, are you sure this little guy is the one you saw?"

Poppy Bros. Jr. nodded. "Yeah bro. He says that if we don't put the Sparkling Star back in its place, Dreamland will be destroyed. I think that maybe we should at least consider it."

The bigger Poppy turned to his brother. "Hmm? Listen to this guy? Please, little bro. What does this guy know? Besides, you know its not my decision on what happens to the Sparkling Star. Remember, I don't rule the forest."

"Then who does?" said Kirby adamantly.

Poppy Bros. Sr. turned to Kirby. "I'm afraid I won't be telling you that. If you're smart, you'll leave while you still have the chance. If not…well I'm afraid I'll have to get rough with you."

"I'm not leaving without the Sparkling Star," Kirby stated.

A big, almost insane, grin formed on Poppy Bros. Sr.'s face. "Then…I guess we're going to be having a little fun aren't we! Hee hee hee. Little Bro, tell the rest of the Poppy elves to make sure I'm getting a steady line of explosives."

Poppy Bros. Jr. looked sadly down to the ground. "Alright bro. Sorry, Kirby." He then jumped into the brush area in the more covered area of the forest.

Kirby turned to watch where he went and when he turned around. Poppy Bros. Sr. was gone. Kirby looked around to see where he had gone, but couldn't find him. Kirby found out soon enough though, when Poppy Bros. Sr. jumped out of the tree from above and landed right on Kirby. "Gah!"

Poppy Bros. Sr. jumped off him and hopped to the middle of the field. "Hee hee hee. I'm afraid that you're out of the kiddy pool now. We're in the big leagues. Alright, my faithful brothers, lets show Kirby the "Pop" in Poppy!" A black bomb was thrown to Poppy Bros. Sr. who in turn threw it at Kirby. Kirby barely got out of the way as it landed and exploded. Kirby turned back to Poppy Bros. Sr. and began to inhale. Poppy Bros. Sr. struggled against Kirby's suction powers. "Hrrgh…well, you…are tougher than…I thought. But you forgot about the rest of us. Hee hee hee!" a bomb landed right behind Kirby, exploding and sending Kirby right at Poppy Bros. Sr. He jumped up and kicked Kirby into a tree. "Hee! Hee hee hee! Ready to give up?"

Kirby slowly got up. "…not yet…"

Poppy Bros. Sr. continued to smile. "…Very well." He jumped up really high then. Kirby ran to the center of the field to see where Poppy Bros. Sr. had gone. The sun was high though and Kirby couldn't see anything when he looked up. Another bomb came flying at him, exploding right next to him and sending him flying again. When he landed he weakly got up to see Poppy Bros. Sr. land casually on the ground. Kirby still got up. "…Still fighting? Hee hee hee. Fine! Send me a continuous stream of bombs! This has been fun, but I'm afraid that our play date ends here! Hee hee hee!" Several bombs were sent toward Poppy Bros. Sr. He caught each elegantly and sent them at Kirby, who could barely keep ahead the constant explosions.

Kirby ran to a tree and bounced off it, landing right in front of Poppy Bros. Sr. He was about to throw another bomb at Kirby but he began to inhale causing Poppy Bros. Sr. to trip. Kirby inhaled the other bombs. Kirby began to feel funny again. He turned a red color and began to expand. Then there was an explosion and Kirby was now wearing a blue hat very similar to the Poppy elves hats. He had become Bomb Kirby.

Poppy Bros. Sr. stood up and saw Kirby. His smile was quickly replaced by a confused, almost annoyed frown. "Hee hee-huh? When did you get that? It doesn't matter. Send me more bombs!" Another bomb was thrown to Poppy Bros. Sr., who caught it and threw it at Kirby. However it exploded in midair. When the smoke cleared, Poppy Bros. Sr. saw that Kirby was now holding a bomb. "…Huh! Wait-but-Hey how did you do that?" Kirby threw the bomb at Poppy Bros. Sr. and he got out of the way just in time tripping and falling down again.

Poppy Bros. Jr. jumped on one of the branches. "I told you bro, he's got a lot of strange powers!"

Poppy Bros. Sr. then turned to see Kirby holding the biggest bomb he had ever seen. Kirby threw the bomb right at him. Poppy Bros. Sr.'s face went to a sad look. "Uh…oh…" The bomb hit him and blew up sending him, quite literally, flying. "Aaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Kirby let out a sigh of relief as the bomb hat on him dissolved. Poppy Bros. Jr. jumped down from the tree branch. "…I guess you win. By the way, this is yours." He tossed the Warp Star to Kirby who caught it in his mouth.

Kirby then asked Poppy Bros. Jr., "So…can I have the Sparkling Star?"

Poppy Bros. Jr. frowned. "Ah…I'm afraid I can't give you that…but I can ask the forest leader. I'll bring you to him, ok?"

Kirby nodded. "Ok…thank you…"

Poppy Bros. Jr. nodded. "Alright let's go."

To be Continued

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