Phazon: Well, readers, this may or may not be the last chapter in the Crystal Shards saga. In response to that one little guy's review, yes, that may or may not be a factor in the lack of feedback, but I've come to this conclusion. I have focused mainly too much on wanting to receive reviews for the fan fiction and less on my work, and while I'd love to have an abundant number of reviews, such as on your piece of work, I can't let that get me down. In essence, my idea is to continue along with Kirby 64: Out of Darkness Comes Light, going for the full novelization of the N64 classic in spite of how many reviews I get. My ambition from chapter 1 was to recreate the game and put it in novel form for fans and readers to enjoy, and not once did I consider what feedback I'd receive. I barely received any for chapter 1, but I did not let that hinder me, and I will not let that hinder me now. The story shall continue in full detail, and whether or not I get the type of feedback I'd like, I'm supposed to be worrying about how my work is, not who likes it and who doesn't. That defeats the entire purpose if I'm so wrapped up in reviewers and less on my work. Anyway, let's get back to the story. Kirby and the gang notices something rising out of the sand on Rock Star that resembles a pyramid. We're nearing the end of another planet, and the entourage will soon be heading to the next planet.
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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Pix
Everyone felt the violent vibrations, the sand rippling throughout as the strange pyramidal structure that was coated in a metallic purple emerged from beneath the sand. The lowest portion began to break apart until an entrance appeared in the form of an elevator. Adeleine jumped in excitement.
"Well, what are we waiting for! Let's GO!"
And the painter was off, running at full speed before turning full circle and realizing that the others hadn't bothered to move at all.
"What's the deal! How come you guys aren't moving!"
Kirby wiped some sweat from his face. "That type of pyramid could house a lot of dangers inside, despite the innocent exterior appearance. It's too risky for all of us to go in."
Before anyone could nominate themselves or someone else, Kirby walked to the head of the group. With fire in his eyes and no tremor in his voice, he addressed his friends.
"I'm tackling this one by myself," the puffball said as he raised his hand to stop any opposing arguments, "should anything go wrong, I can wiggle my way out of any situation, and if there are crystal shard fragments in there, I'll get them safe and sound and get them back to Ribbon in time. More than that, a structure of that magnitude didn't just conjure itself up; someone or something created it and must be at the very top, so I'm going to find it and take it out. You all just keep looking for some safe haven or something until I catch up to you.
As Ribbon was about to protest, Kirby gave his last few words to the group. "Trust me," he said as he ran off towards the bridge that would lead him towards the pyramid.
Waddle Dee looked on as the pink puffball continued running. "You've gotta admire that determination."
They all agreed as they grabbed their belongings and began walking…not towards the pyramid. The savior of Pop Star was on his own.
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Kirby had taken the opportunity to absorb a Skud enemy: walking red and white rockets that had the Bomb ability within them. Kirby figured that if something were to go wrong within the base, such as an automatic self destruction, he'd have to blast his way out.
He jumped across the long and winding bridge, which was strangely coated with glowing black and purple paint. Ignoring the abnormality, Kirby rushed towards the elevator that would lead him into the pyramid, using an Nruff pig to pick up his speed. As Kirby stepped onto the platform, it suddenly began to rise. Looking up, all Kirby saw was darkness, not a single increment of light. He now wished he'd been back out in the hot desert where there was some form of illumination.
Afar, Ribbon heard an earth shattering thud as she looked back and saw that the pyramid was sealed. She now knew that there was no turning back-- Kirby wanted to finish this task alone.
And alone the puffball was. As the elevator ascended, Kirby happened to hear the faintest sound of cheap elevator music as he continued his ascension. He got a chance to practice some fake dance skills when Shotzo cannons were firing shots at him, but he was able to avoid them nonetheless, but couldn't damage them.
The ride seemed interminable, but Kirby found himself at the next level as the elevator came to a halt. This next room was a bit brighter, filled with moving pink and yellow platforms, constantly shifting and changing direction with each passing second. There was nowhere to go but up.
"Well, as they say," Kirby said to himself, not even having time to complete his statement as he briskly jumped on top of one platform and to the next one a split second before being crushed against the wall. Continuing up with ease, Kirby found an exit shaft, but got a strange feeling and looked underneath the floating platform he was standing on.
In the center of the room was a strange fixture that seemed unimportant, but when Kirby saw the rotating platforms move away and show a clearing, there in front of him was a Crystal Shard fragment. He quickly dropped down and floated back up to the platform before he was crushed.
"Phew, I almost got crushed in this room," he muttered as he looked to his left and right. On both sides of him were Spark-i creatures: blue triangle creatures with one eye encased. They gave off electrical powers, which Kirby figured would go good with his bomb ability. He took the black elemental crystal out of his mouth and tossed it at one of the Spark-i creatures, making a new concoction. He hopped up to the next level.
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Waddle Dee and King Dedede continued walking along the sand when they stopped and looked back. Ribbon was surveying the surrounding, but the other two hadn't figured the problem yet.
"What?" Waddle asked.
"Where's Adeleine?" Ribbon asked with a stern look on her face.
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"Man, oh man, Ribbon's gonna spank me for this one," Adeleine muttered to herself. The painter, through various explosive devices she had painted, had made it into the pyramid undetected by her supposed guardians.
Adeleine found herself in a dark room with three strange things that appeared to be easels. Adeleine smiled with joy as she took out her paintbrushes and supplies.
"Guess I'll be getting to work."
At the same time, however, Kirby was making his way through the various rooms and arrived in the exact same room as the painter, who stood still as she heard Kirby grunt while he tried hoisting himself up. Adeleine sweated nervously and hoped that Kirby wouldn't see her or her work. She had so many ideas for things to paint, but she'd only been able to paint a sun, a tree, and a fish, with quick painting skills that easily rivaled those of a first grader.
Kirby saw that the room was pitch black, but he wasn't so dense that he couldn't make out the red artist cap and green shirt that belonged to a certain someone. He sighed in amusement as well as disappointment.
"Adeleine, wouldn't Ribbon have told you to stay by her side at all times?"
The painter didn't move, hoping that Kirby would simply leave her in peace. The pink puffball felt insulted at being ignored.
"Did you hear me, Adeleine? I'm talking to you! What did I just--"
Kirby took no more chances and charged forward with his attack, which actually turned out to be a brilliant light bulb. He took a look at the strange figures that Adeleine and promised not to rat her out. The artist gathered her supplies and drew herself a drill that would hopefully get her out of the pyramid.
In the next room, Kirby saw a series of switches with drawings on them, but the exit itself was locked. He looked around and saw switches with drawings of a fish, a tree, and a sun, all of which were done by Adeleine. As he stepped carefully on the respective three, the entrance opened and a Crystal Shard fragment suddenly materialized. Kirby grabbed it and stashed it along with the other one, but also withdrew his crystalline ability and tossed it towards the ceiling, shattering it. He climbed the ladder to the next room…
…which was a lot bigger and wider than any of the previous. Kirby had to scratch his head in confusion.
"Who in their right mind built this thing anyway?"
He surveyed his surroundings: there was no ground to fall onto, just the floating multicolored blocks that had to be used as stepping stones and some translucent pink platforms that transported one from point A to point B. Taking the easy way out, Kirby looked up and saw that the exit shaft was a bit far from his reach, but he just needed good timing. He jumped on one pink platform, sucked in his breath, and began to float up…up…higher and higher towards the elevator that would take him to the exit shaft.
"Guess I must be near the end," he concluded as the elevator took him up to a completely deserted room. As he began to climb the ladder to exit, the exit shaft closed and a giant Spark-I appeared and began firing multicolored balls.
Kirby ducked as the first shot narrowly missed him and obliterated some of the walling. He took the opportunity to absorb at least one Spark-I creature to give him an electrical advantage. Kirby repeatedly jumped into the air and fired; an electrical barrier shielding his body as the current surged throughout the giant Spark-I, which unfortunately couldn't move. It soon exploded under the buckling pressure, but not without leaving another shard fragment.
Kirby smiled as he grabbed the fragment and climbed the ladder to the next level. It had to be the final level, for there was a clearing of blue sky seen from the exit shaft way up at the top. To Kirby's left and right were some yellow ropes that seemed dangerous, but gave off no electricity. He started shimmying up the rope when something strange happened. Beneath him on the rope, a beast formed. Bivolts were sparks with faces that would simply follow whoever was climbing their ropes, but Kirby was able to evade them all as he jumped into the exit shaft and into the clearing.
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Kirby was now situated upon a circular platform. It was a round structure that was circling a base like structure in the center. Without warning, it began to move, ascending without any type of instruction from anyone.
As Kirby walked around and around the ascending platform, he saw a red diamond materialize out of nowhere. It did not speak or give the pink puffball any warning, but soon began warping and changing until the red diamond now had a huge, protruding spike coming out of it, almost like a lance. For whatever reason, the diamond only shifted left and right, meaning all Kirby had to do was duck and he easily evaded this enemy. The trouble was not over, though.
Next up was the green diamond, which followed up and warped into a diamond with a spike protruding out of it. As opposed to simply shimmying left to right, the two diamonds began spinning vertically as Kirby ran on the top of his heels, trying to avoid getting attacked, but he couldn't avoid a come from behind smack on the top of the head from the red diamond. Kirby found himself thrown to the side, but was able to lift himself onto the continually ascending platform.
Finally, a blue diamond appeared, following the same pattern as its predecessors. This time, the three diamonds simply bobbed up and down in a motion, left and right, the direction sometimes throwing Kirby off, but he was able to duck and doge every attack. He was confident that this battle would be over soon, but the platform soon stopped ascending. Kirby looked over the edge of the platform and found that he was far up, very far up, higher than he assumed the pyramid would take him. The three diamonds soon came together in the center and began speaking in a robotic type of voice.
"We are Pix, we are one," the diamonds said in a strange, demented voice to the star warrior, who held his ground.
"So it was you who built this pyramid?" Kirby asked.
"You are correct, star warrior," the diamonds responded. "We plan to use the Crystal Shards' power to harness the power of the pyramid so it shall become a powerful stronghold that will send even more enemies to the doomed planet that you call Ripple Star. All we need now are the fragments that you possess."
Kirby smirked with a battle look on his face as he prepared to fight. "Come and get them!"
The diamonds came together in triangle formation and began circling the platform rapidly, with their long, protruding spikes extended. Kirby ran as quickly as he could, but it was no good. He found himself getting smacked and smacked over again until he could take no more. The star warrior's body was soon charged with electricity as he flew to the diamonds' level and attacked. The energy radiating from the electrical shield shocked the diamonds, who came back to the center structure.
"Got any more fight left in you?" Kirby challenged.
The diamonds separated and began firing energy balls corresponding with their color. As they did, small molecular figures materialized instantly on the platforms. Sure, Kirby wasn't a scientist, but he could put two and two together and realize that a molecule thrown at its corresponding color would have to do some major damage, so he went for it.
Kirby ran and grabbed one green molecule, then jumped with great agility and height to the other side of the platform, grabbing another molecule of green color. Kirby took proper aim, closed one eye, and tossed the two molecules at the green diamond, shattering it completely as it was now a hollow frame of its former self. Kirby quickly whisked and grabbed two blue molecules and made waste of the blue diamond, so the red diamond now retreated to the center with its destroyed allies.
"The star warrior is more powerful than we expected."
It tried again with the triangle formation, but because it was by itself, Kirby was able to see through its attack pattern and easily dodged the protruding spike.
"The molecules shall appear no more, star warrior! What will your method of attack be?"
Kirby rushed in, jumped and tried kicking the red diamond on its side, but was bounced off as the diamond was too thick to be penetrated by physical force. Even King Dedede's hammer couldn't break through that tough exterior, so Kirby stealthily took out the yellow elemental crystal and hit it as the red crystal approached, preparing for a final desperation shot.
"Farewell, star warrior!"
It fired a powerful red beam that was being retracted when an electrical elemental crystal was penetrating through it. The laser began backing up, further and further until it blasted through the red crystal, shattering it as it was now amongst its allies.
With no more defenses, the three destroyed crystals spun and spun and spun rapidly until they exploded, a Crystal Shard piece amongst the wrecked. Kirby grabbed it and put it along with the other three he had found. Suddenly, there was a violent vibration. A sequence had somehow been initiated.
"Warning: Pix battle structure and pyramid base will self destruct in T-minus five, four, three…"
Kirby looked around for an exit, and he was certain that a fall from that far of a height would kill him upon impact. He simply grabbed the Crystal Shard fragment and closed his eyes.
"Launching explosion sequence…"
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"Hey, guys, I'm an Egyptian!"
Waddle Dee and King Dedede did not want to look back at another one of Adeleine's charades, so they kept on walking. Ribbon was pleased that the painter made it back, but furious when she heard where she had been. She kept a better grip on the girl, but thankfully, for Adeleine's sake, she did not spank her in front of Dedede and Waddle in the middle of the desert, but the painter would soon get her just desserts.
Waddle Dee stopped in his tracks as he heard the faint boom of an explosion. "Guys, the pyramid's coming down! I can't see it all, but it looks like it's falling into the sand!"
The shrill wail of a certain pink puffball was heard as Kirby was falling fast towards the sand, protected by a barrier created by the energy of the shards. He landed on the sand alive, but lifted his head to see…Ribbon with a strawberry head and Waddle in the shape of a delicious, but edible chicken?
The star warrior fainted on the spot.
"He's exhausted," Ribbon concluded as she flew to her friend, "what should we do?"
It took some heavy thinking, but Adeleine came up with an idea.
Five minutes later, Kirby was up and well.
"I AM THE STRONGEST!" Kirby boasted as he shoved a piece of cake down his mouth, celebrating his victory over Pix.
Dedede was munching on a ham, and Waddle a sandwich, while Adeleine was eating away at a sandwich as well, but also working on a painting of an apple. Without warning, the apple fell from the easel and onto the sand as Ribbon watched it roll, a smile of joy on her face. Her attention was diverted to the glowing Crystal Shard, which was once again floating and glowing with that strange aura around it. It flashed vibrantly and revealed the next planet: Aqua Star.
"Good," Adeleine said as she gathered her things, "I could use some time at the beach away from all this sun."
"It's settled," Waddle Dee said as he jumped in after Ribbon, followed by Adeleine and Waddle Dee.
Kirby, on the other hand was munching on another piece of cake, but didn't have time to finish it before Dedede grabbed the chubby pink star warrior and dragged him into the portal as the Crystal Shard shot out of the hot, arid desert that was Rock Star and towards the cool, crystal waters that was Aqua Star. The search for Crystal Shards was continuing, but without the heat.
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Author's Note: Sorry about the length of this chapter, but I got out of hand with this. Anyway, the story will continue regardless of how many reviews I get. I just want to make this the best Kirby 64 adaptation I can make it, and nothing will hold me back from doing so. Enjoy, read, you don't have to review if you don't want to, though I'd appreciate it, and the next chapter will be up soon! Happy reading!