BLAAARRG!!! I am indeed alive, my readers! School has been hectic...and other stuff too...anyways now that I have some free time, perhaps I'll get some more written over my break! But first, my thanks to my reviewers...thank you reviewers...

Xanxi: Ya know, I was recently playing KSS, and I think that the place you fight Lololo and Lalala is indeed their castle...but that place was too happy looking for my fanfiction needs! By the way thanks for reviewing so much, and thanks for making a great Kirby fic yourself!

Aduross: Dedede's intelligence is his own...I really don't think to hard when writing dialogue for him...I guess that makes sense. Anyways, since I'm writing an entire saga, I can garuntee that virtually all Kirby characters will show up eventually, one way or another. It's just a matter of when and how!

Shining Riku: Dedede's greed and dumbness is what makes him so awesome...maybe! And look at you, automatically assuming the good guys are gonna win...like that ever happens...(cough)...

Anyways, this chapter was pretty difficult to write. It kinda jumps all over the place, so I hope it isn't too difficult to follow...well, anyways...Enjoy:)

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 14

It's Been a Long Night

The ghosts laughed eerily as they circled the four adventurers. Knuckle Joe was the first to launch himself into the action. "Spin Kick!" He jumped up into the air, roundhouse kicked, and a wide energy beam slammed into several of the ghosts causing them to disintegrate. After landing on the ground he jumped up and tackled another ghost to the ground.

Kirby looked at the other two. "I'll take out the leader. You guys back me up!" Kirby spat out the Warp Star, jumped on it and flew high into the night sky, being followed by Mumbies. "Alright, ghost dude, try this!" Kirby began to inhale. Mumbies stopped moving at that point. It stayed still, not being effected at all by Kirby's vacuum power. Mumbies red eye glowed and fired a red energy beam at Kirby, knocking him off the Warp Star. The Warp Star gave chase and caught Kirby. Kirby was shot off again by another energy blast.

Poppy Jr. jumped up grabbed one of the Hurleys and threw it too Rocky who hopped and crushed it. He then looked up seeing Kirby falling toward the ground. "Poppy! Look!" He turned then jumped up and caught Kirby, tossing him back up to the Warp Star.

"You sure your okay Kirby?" Kirby nodded then barely dodged another energy blast.

Rocky sighed. "Poppy…how exactly is Kirby going to defeat this ghost?"

"Oh…you don't know? Kirby can absorb powers by swallowing different things…wait…I got it! Rocky, get as many ghosts as you can to follow you."

Rocky nodded. "Alright…but this better work because I doubt I'll be able to handle all of them…" Rocky and Poppy Jr. split off. The ghosts split into two groups.

Knuckle Joe grabbed another ghost and tossed it over his head. He then look and saw Broom Hatter on the top of one of the castle towers, summoning more ghosts. His eyes narrowed and he ran off toward the castle.

Rocky quickly realized that he was running downhill. He was now having trouble slowing down. He was at the same time, though, having a large amount of trouble keeping ahead of the ghosts. Well…now what…hmm…ah got ya! Rocky slammed against a tree, and launched himself through the ghosts. As some circled around, the tree fell and crushed them. Rocky then jumped up and slammed down on a few others. "Alright…Poppy Jr., your plan better work…"

Broom Hatter cackled as she summoned another pair of Hurleys. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Crush the fools!" The Hurleys gave off their disturbing laugh and began to bounce away.

"Smash Punch!" The two Hurleys were engulfed by another energy blast. Knuckle Joe jumped onto the roof and coldly stared at Broom Hatter. He readied another punch. She cackled and melted through the roof. Knuckle Joe scowled. "You're not getting away from me!" Knuckle Joe jumped high up and then came down, fist-first. "MEGATON PUNCH!!!" Joe crashed through the tower roof at such a high velocity, that the tower began to shake. Joe continued to punch through the floors causing the tower to shake more. Eventually, the tower began to collapse. Joe quickly jumped away as the stone ceiling crashed to the ground. Joe smirked. "Well, we got a way into the castle…"

"Yes, but you will not escape ALIVE!" Joe turned to see Broom Hatter on the other side of the room. "Kee kee kee…you have destroyed part of my castle…and you have angered my Two Faces…so you'll have to answer to them…kee kee kee…" Joe quickly turned to see about half a dozen calm looking mask-like creatures floating behind him. They each then spun around revealing more sinister faces with glowing red eyes. "Deal with them and maybe you'll get to deal with me…AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Broom Hatter melted through the wall.

Poppy Jr. kept ahead of the Hurleys, but there were still too many. "Gotta single one out…" Poppy Jr. pulled out a small bomb, set it off, and dropped it on the ground. He stopped running as the Hurleys surrounded him. He kept his eye on one. Cold sweat dropped from his face. "Gotta time this just right…" He crouched then launched himself into the air, grabbing one of the Hurleys. Seconds later, the bomb went off, taking out the other ghosts. Poppy soon jumped past Kirby, who was still struggling with his fight against Mumbies. "Kirby! Swallow this!" Poppy dropped the Hurley toward Kirby as he fell back to the ground.

Kirby began to inhale again, taking in the Hurley. Kirby jumped up. Two paddles, one blue and one red, began to knock Kirby around. The two paddles squashed Kirby between them. Kirby squeezed out, grabbed the two paddles. They became flimsy as Kirby put the blue one on his head and wrapped the red one around it. He had become Ball Kirby.

Kirby jumped up from the Warp Star and turned into a ball. He crashed into Mumbies sending both himself and the ghastly creature into the castle via the collapsed tower. Mumbies quickly regained itself and began to fire energy blasts at Kirby again. Kirby, still in his ball form, began to bounce off the walls. Mumbies continued to fire, but Kirby was bouncing too quickly.

Eventually, Mumbies quit firing. It revealed a ferocious mouth below its eye. It latched onto Kirby, causing him to lose his ball form. "Spin Kick!" A Two Face crashed through a wall, quickly followed by Knuckle Joe. Seeing Mumbies, he ran over to it, grabbed it and threw it over his head. "Overhead Throw!" Mumbies crashed into the wall. Kirby morphed back into a ball and began to bounce against the walls again. After gaining high speed, he bounced himself right into Mumbies so hard that Mumbies eye was knocked out of the wrap. The cloth fell to the floor and the eye disintegrated. Kirby morphed back to his regular form as the cap disappeared.

Poppy Jr. and Rocky walked into the wrecked tower. The ghosts were all gone now. "There they are," said Poppy Jr. The duo walked over to Kirby and Knuckle Joe. "So, did we win?"

Knuckle Joe shook his head. "No…we still gotta find the old hag."

"Speak, and you shall be answered, fools!" The group looked to see Broom Hatter standing at the top of the collapsed castle tower. "Kee kee kee…so you have defeated some of my ghosts. It matters not! I can easily summon another legion of ghosts! Wait…no, it can't already be…morning!" The sun was just now coming up. Broom Hatter shrieked as the light hit her.

"Now's our chance! Rocky, come here!" said Knuckle Joe.

"Very well…but why?"

"Here's why!" Joe grabbed Rocky and threw him at Broom Hatter, knocking her off the tower. The group ran over to her and Rocky, who was now quite peeved. Joe grabbed her and forced her against the wall. "Alright, hag! Where's the Sparkling Star?"

Broom Hatter laughed wickedly. "Kee kee kee…wouldn't you like to know…it is in this castle. But you will not easily find the room which we have hidden it…" a poof of smoke enveloped the group. After it cleared up, Broom Hatter was gone.

Kirby sighed. "Well, we know what we gotta do, right? Let's go get that Sparkling Star."

To be Continued

There you have it. Review please! And I might just decide to get off my lazy butt and write some more! Maybe!