Phazon: Just because of my situation, it's only necessary that I update this story as quickly as I can, but I am unsure of how long this trend will keep up, but I assure you that the wait for most chapters will be worth it. Rest assured, I will not lack in quality when dealing with a game like Kirby 64.

Disclaimer: The characters, storyline, setting and all of that in Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards belong and are the sole property of Nintendo and HAL Laboratories only, and I don't have them locked away in chains anywhere. Best to get the legalities out of the way before someone tries to sue. I aim to give the readers something to enjoy, but not have my story deleted by an NOA executive.

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Shades of Autumn

"Wait up, Waddle!"

Kirby charged through the mounds of multicolored leaves as he and Ribbon ran after their new accomplice, Waddle Dee. He said that him going ahead to get ready for something else was more important.

"What could possibly be of more importance than retrieving the crystal shards?" Ribbon wondered to herself, brushing some red leaves off of her dress.

Nonetheless, Kirby was continuing along through the nice and peaceful forests. Many had come here to muse in the quiet where all was at ease, but there was no ease for Ribbon and Kirby.

As Kirby rushed down the pathway, he took the opportunity to dispose of the fireworks ability he had recently acquired in lieu of something more favorable and suitable for the occasion. At the same time, he wanted to bask in the richness of the autumn forest. Browns, greens, reds, oranges, and yellows were abundant wherever he and Ribbon went.

Ribbon looked ahead and saw there was a giant log in the distance with a huge hole in it, but it was quite far from their current position. She fluttered her wings in anticipation.

"I'm sure Waddle Dee went in there," Ribbon said to Kirby.

Kirby bounced off of some Bouncy creatures or leverage, catapulting far into the air before once again taking a deep breath and inhaling not one, but two Bobo creatures.

"Ribbon," Kirby said quietly, "I suggest you prepare to quicken up this journey through the forests."

She was confused. "And why is that?"

The pink puffball jumped into the air, pointed straight ahead, and then, in an instant, became a giant curling fireball, blasting through Poppy Brothers, Sirkibble knights, far down the pathway.

Ribbon found herself getting lost in the abundance of leaves, but she followed the ever loud hum of the charging fireball. By the time Ribbon caught up to Kirby, he was perched upon a floating log cutoff suspended somehow in the air.

"Hello, Ribbon," Kirby said nonchalantly as he grabbed a piece of fruit hung high in the tree.

"Are you sure you should be eating something that grows in these forests?"

Kirby talked in between chews. "Mmmm…it's not poison or anything, it's healthy fruit! Everything that grows around here is good for the body and heals you from any ailments."

Ribbon rolled her eyes unimpressed.

"All right, not every ailment, but you get the point."

The two chatted idly as they hopped over some huge logs. Well, Kirby hopped over them at least. Ribbon enjoyed taunting him with her ability to fly high, but Kirby jokingly threatened to suck her up. However, the talk was held up when a Sparky was blocking the entrance.

"Oh no," the Sparky exclaimed, "Kirby's here already! All right, boss man said 'Sparky, you need to hold off that pink puffball as long as you can. That's what life's all about.' But to me…"

Whatever the Sparky was musing over would have to wait, for he was now in the depths of Kirby's stomach. Kirby jerked to the left, to the right, and suddenly let off a shockwave of electricity that shielded his body. A force field of electrical current was now protecting him from any harm.

"Apparently I do have a lot to learn," Ribbon said to Kirby.

Kirby signaled her into the giant tree opening, and they didn't find rotting worms, corpses, twigs, and leaves strewn about the terrain. It looked like a normal little interior of a tree, but the insides didn't have pink and green decorated stumps…or ascending stumps leading to the top.

Ribbon surveyed her surroundings. "Wow…this world you live in is…pretty strange and new to me."

Her musings were interrupted when three Pupas descended from the ceiling level they were on, dropping right in front of the startled little fairy.

Ribbon yelled like she never yelled before, grasping the Crystal Shard harder than ever, but Kirby stepped in, pushed her aside, and held his breath. After ten seconds passed, his body let out a large jolt of electricity, completely disintegrating the first two Pupas on his left. He shimmied to the right and the remaining Pupa retreated, but the string it was attached to began to give way.

"Come on…" Kirby muttered from within the electric shield.

With a snap, the string came loose and the Pupa screeched as it was blown away by the electric force.

Relieved, Kirby jumped up the series of floating stumps to the top level, where a bouncing Cairn was busily hopping away, trying to reach the ceiling.

"Do you plan to absorb this one?" Ribbon asked quizzically.

Kirby didn't answer; he just took out the electrical crystalline, waited for the Cairn to jump high enough, then walked right under it. It hit the ceiling with a thump, but as it looked down, the creature could do nothing as it fell into Kirby's concoction; yet another power discovered.

"Do electric and rock go together well?"

"We'll have to find out eventually," Kirby responded to the girl. He peered slowly into the opening, and saw there was the entrance to another tree…a long very long route across a large gap that Kirby couldn't reach.

As Ribbon neared the edge, he saw there was a platform under him that he could step on, and looking higher above him was a log with cables that held the platform in place.

"Looks like someone's been waiting for you to come," Ribbon concluded.

And indeed someone was. Waddle Dee jumped down from the higher log and explained that he would forward the contraption by walking along as if the log were above water. He began his trek, walking smoothly across the log and never losing his balance.

Ribbon was not the least bit worried, for she simply flew across to the adjacent log. However, when she looked behind and saw Kirby and Waddle Dee moving slowly along, her eyes were distracted by something shiny they were about to pass.

The tiny fairy yelled out to the other two puffballs. "Hey Kirby, there's a Crystal Shard piece where you're about to pass over."

Taking this as a perfect opportunity, Kirby hopped off of the log and grabbed the shard, but at the same time, he had to attempt floating back to the log. Once Waddle started moving, he couldn't stop or slow down. Kirby puffed and huffed as hard as he could, but he could tell he couldn't huff any higher anymore, until he felt something beneath him guiding him towards the other log.

Kirby was most grateful to Ribbon for helping him out, but Waddle Dee told them to hurry along, for there was another Crystal Shard nearby.

They walked inside the log, but stepped back to avoid the sticky mucky nonsense strewn about the ground. They looked up and saw three Glunk creatures, amoeba thingies that shot out these balls of gunk. Kirby launched his attack, but it wasn't what he expected. Instead of an electric bolt, a rock with a long electric strand forced its way from the depths of Kirby's stomach and obliterated the Glunks, yet it remained bouncing from wall to wall inside the log.

Waddle Dee and Ribbon moved out of the way, but Waddle nearly fell into the huge gap where they were nearing. The rock found its way back into Kirby's mouth, and Waddle Dee looked down the hole, there was an even deeper hole that they'd have to jump into.

The Crystal Shard began to react once again to whatever was inside that deep hole, so the three had to jump down together, but Waddle took it upon himself to jump ahead to clear the path.

"Kirby…" Ribbon began, hesitantly. "Please hold my hand."

Kirby obliged and took the young fairy's hand. She took a deep breath as the puffball and fairy jumped down, falling stories below and into the deep, dark hole leading to who knows where.

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Deep pasts the autumn forests was a tiny little spring area where people came to be alone and do what they pleased without the bothers of other people.

In the midst of this spring area was a high elevated log that had on it an easel, some art supplies, and a person.

A young girl picked adjusted the red cap on her head as she picked up her paintbrush and dipped it in the red dispenser of paint. She gave light strokes to the easel, not being too rough or soft on her soon to be masterpiece. When she was satisfied that she had used enough red, she dipped the paintbrush in water to disperse any red left and began to decide over another color.

"Maybe I should paint myself a new hat."

The young girl's name was Adeleine. She'd just arrived on Pop Star recently via warps and wanted some peace and quiet to work on her art, but Adeline's work was not like that of just any artist. Anything that the little girl painted instantly came to life…if she wanted it to. She simply had to give the go or hold and the work of art would instantly pop out of the easel and into her hands.

Adeleine wasn't so wrapped up in her work that she wouldn't notice anything else. As a matter of fact, her eyes went wide opened in shock as something shiny and glittery flashed right next to her and landed at her feet. The girl turned and bent at her feet, picking up the strange, yet pretty looking shard she held in her hands.

"Now here's something I can paint."

As Adeleine dipped her paintbrush into the blue, a black oval materialized over her easel, but she wasn't aware of this yet.

Subject has been sighted in forestland area with Crystal Shard. She plays, finds the jewel amusing, yet completely unaware of the power it possesses.

Adeleine felt she wasn't alone and quickly whizzed around at her easel, but it still had the same streaks of red that she had left previously. Nervously, she placed the shard fragment in her pocket and went back to picking colors to create a replica of it. The Dark Matter appeared once again, staring ominously at her pocket where the shard was sticking out.

"I'll start with the light shade of blue and work my way to other colors," she muttered to herself, once again turning to her easel.

This time, however, Adeleine stared the Dark Matter eye-to-eye. She stumbled back, but was careful not to fall off of the log she was situated on. It mattered not, for the second she tried to jump away, the Dark Matter lunged forward at her.

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"Up and down, up and down, up and down, up and down…"

Waddle Dee grew tired of the repetition of the giant pink Bouncy that was bouncing about in the room that he had landed in.

"Hey," Ribbon called to the giant monstrosity, "how about unlocking the door and letting us out?"

"Bouncy feels giant now, greater than all those that were his same size before."

Kirby leaned over to Ribbon. "I don't think he hears us." He then stood on his feet and looked to Waddle Dee, who mirrored his standing motion.

"I'll get the big one, and you get the smaller ones," Kirby told Waddle Dee.

When Waddle Dee showed signs of agreement, the plan commenced. Waddle Dee bounced off of the wall and went for the horde of young Bouncy springs.

Kirby looked at the towering Bouncy, many times greater than its smaller counterparts, but he feared not. With the combo still intact, he spit out the electrical rock and it found itself wrapped around the giant Bouncy's spring. Even while receiving the jolts of electricity surging throughout, the Bouncy continued to bounce.

Ribbon gave some words of advice. "Try swinging it around at the walls and see what happens."

Kirby took this advice well and began to lasso the Bouncy around like a rodeo clown, slamming it into the walls. Ribbon moved out of the way when the giant Bouncy headed her way.

After swinging it around enough and certain that there was enough electricity coursing through its system, Kirby let the giant Bouncy free of the electric rock's grip. Dazed and confused the Bouncy was, losing its balance and unable to jump as high as it could.

Waddle Dee punched out another petite Bouncy into a wall when he surveyed Kirby's battle. "Go for the final strike, Kirby!"

He indeed did go for the final blow, as he catapulted himself high above the Bouncy and fired his rock right into the cranium of the beast, toppling it completely as it exploded into nothingness. Out of the creature's core came a Crystal Shard fragment, which Ribbon added to the main one she held.

The door before them suddenly opened, revealing a long and empty pathway through the forests and ended up in a clearing that they couldn't see yet.

"Come on, then!" Ribbon said to the others. "There can't be too many shards left on the planet."

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Adeleine thrashed about, kicking over stumps and wailing as loud as she possibly could. Her body was in immense pain…or at least she hoped it was her body she had control over.

"What's…happening to me?" Adeleine asked herself, not in her sweet and kind voice, but a more demonic and evil one.

You own this body. The pink one and his fairy friend are coming soon with Crystal Shard. Disperse of them immediately and destroy this body when finished.

The Dark Matter possessed body jumped upon the log in a dismount and looked about. Before her she saw three beings heading her way.

Kirby ran as fast as he could to the girl, but suddenly stopped, causing Waddle Dee to bump into him.

"Excuse me," Kirby said to the girl, "do you know the path out of here?"

Adeleine's eyes were finally opened, showing the same type of emptiness that Waddle Dee showed. She gave a fierce shriek as she pointed her paintbrush towards Kirby.

"Do battle with me for the shard you possess!"

Kirby thought to himself. "I recognize that voice," but before he could state the obvious, Ribbon did it for him.

"She's possessed!"

Waddle Dee and Ribbon easily stepped to the side as Kirby stared face to face with the possessed painter. She grasped her paintbrush tightly as she headed to her easel and painted a picture of an N-Z creature.

"Great," Waddle Dee said to himself, "she's gonna beat him with arts and crafts."

"Come to life, I say to you!"

The N-Z lunged forwards out of the easel and lunged forward at Kirby, who was not impressed.

"Is she serious?" He thought to himself. He didn't have to put muscle into it; he simply grabbed the N-Z drawing and slammed it into the ground.

Adeleine steamed. She went back and painted not one, but two new creations: carbon copies of a TEAR-an creature and a black Mariel spider. This time, Kirby shot the electric rock that plowed through both foes.

Once again, the artist was beginning to grow angry. She went back and furiously worked on two better creations, or so she hoped. One was a flying white ball with a red eye for the center, and the other…some form of digital data in ball form. Kirby dispensed of the ball easily, but he tried sucking up the data to see what would happen. The data ball was unaffected and Kirby ducked out of the way to avoid being hit.

"Come on Kirby," Waddle Dee called, "you're putting up a fight! She's a little girl!"

The rock blasted through the data and Kirby looked over to the artist. "Is that all you got?"

She didn't respond, but had another ace up her sleeve. A tiny dino creature, but painted blue and obviously rushed in order to be placed in battle. It spit out an ice block that Kirby jumped on top of and threw back at the dino, freezing it in its place.

"Now for the wind up," Kirby backed up easily and fired, shooting the electric rock as it bounced against the frozen dino, but clearly damaging it, as it began to be less visible. Kirby gave it another one and this time, the dino was obliterated.

Adeleine took one last effort, something that she knew Kirby couldn't defeat: a replica of the Dark Matter eye.

The eye jumped from the painting and looked to Ribbon and her shard, but she feared nothing, as the creature was not real.

Kirby shot once at the eye, twice again, and the third blow from the electric rock blew the Dark Matter eyeball away.

"Grrrr….now you're gonna get it!" Adeleine said as she jumped from her log and began to wave her paintbrush wildly at Kirby. He played along and dodged her blows.

"Will you end it already!" Waddle Dee shouted.

"Like you said Waddle," Kirby responded, "she's a little girl! She doesn't know what she's doing with all this Dark Matter business. Besides, I don't wanna hurt her."

So instead, Kirby took a deep huff, waited for Adeleine to come yelling his way like a maniac, and gave a long and loud exhale. The sudden gust of wind was too strong for Adeleine as she flew straight into a tree stump, knocking the Crystal Shard out of her pocket and into Ribbon's hands as she grabbed it in midair.

The Dark Matter energy quickly retreated for the sky, but he looked in the distance and saw a castle…with someone in high stature and authority leading over it. Hastening, the Dark Matter headed in that direction.

Adeleine brushed the leaves off of her green shirt as she stood on her feet. She felt as if she'd been plowed down by an express train.

"What…happened to me?"

Ribbon glided over to the confused painter. "You were possessed by Dark Matter. It's a complicated situation, but you went on a rampage and tried to attack us."

"The good news is you're okay," Kirby continued, "and we got what we came for, so we'll be on our way and leave you to your art."

"Wait," Adeleine stopped them in mid-walking. She went over to the log and grabbed her art supplies, easel, everything that she had and put it in her sack, then went back to the gang. "Please allow me to accompany you. I'm sorry for what I did, but I assure you my art will be of great use and then some."

Ribbon looked to Waddle Dee and Kirby, then back to Adeleine. At last, she spoke to her. "Sure you can come with us."

"It'd be nice to have someone else to hang around with," Kirby added. Waddle Dee simply nodded in agreement, but he didn't look too excited.

Adeleine was so ecstatic that she ran ahead of the group, who followed after her.

"Hey!" Waddle Dee yelled, "stop running in front of all of us! You don't do that…"

He was so focused yelling that he didn't notice that Adeleine had stopped dead in her tracks. He ran straight into her, causing Kirby to run smack dab into Waddle. Ribbon simply floated next to Adeleine.

"Something wrong?"

Adeleine pointed ahead to what looked like a spire of a castle. The four ran through the neck of the woods and found themselves in the clearing…and Adeleine was right. Before them was a great castle that looks as if it could've touched the sky.

Kirby looked over and saw that someone or something was lowering the drawbridge that led to the inside.

"Come on," Kirby motioned for the cavalcade to follow, "now's our chance!"

And they all followed behind the pink puffball and ran towards the strange castle they discovered.