Phazon: The volcano: one of my favorite levels of Kirby 64, I've finally arrived at you in the story. Most of you will find this familiar if you've played the game, and the others…well, you won't. This did take a long time to update, I'll admit, but let's overlook that and just get to the chapter, shall we?

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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Volcanic Crystal Shards

The hot boiling lava, the endless caves, the molten rock constantly falling from above- clearly, when you're in the midst of an unstable volcano on Neo Star, you're bound to be hot, and not the good kind of hot, either.

"I think I've got some charcoal on my butt."

Clearly the words of little naïve Adeleine, who felt around and caught a huge lump of charcoal on her skirt. After brushing it off, the painter stood to her feet, but she nearly fell back down when she saw the immense innards of the volcano.

"Erm…you're telling me that the last few shards are…somewhere in this hellhole?"

Ribbon nodded, but not before lightly slapping Adeleine and reminding her to watch her language.

Kirby went over to the red puffball, who was still knocked out, but definitely in the wrong place.

"You picked a bad place for a nap, Waddle!!"

That place was right on top of a mini volcano that was constantly spewing out boiling lava. When Waddle finally awoke, he screamed at the top of his lungs, running out and dragging his body across the hard gravel in an attempt to extinguish the flames.

"Well, those shards aren't gonna find themselves," Kirby concluded as the group began trekking across the broken rocky pathways.

Whenever the pathways broke off, a stream of lava separated them, and then there was the never ending barrage of molten rocks falling from above them.

"Say, Adeleine," Dedede called as he jumped across another gap, "couldn't you just paint us some portable fans or ice or something that'll cool us down? Come on! You can pain anything!"

Adeleine felt a bit conceited, yet peeved at the same time. She was more peeved, though.

"What am I, the personal artist of the group?"

"…yes," Dedede replied slowly, tilting his head to one side.

"Well, tough cookies to that! I don't just paint on command and I need to have a certain inspiration for whatever it is that I'm working on, not the first idea that pops into my head."

Dedede whirled around and picked Adeleine up, holding her so she was facing him completely.

"You painted that stupid radio to play music when we were waiting for Kirby, when you know good and well that there is no reception or feedback all the way out on Aqua Star."

Adeleine knew he was right, but she stood defiant, mostly because she didn't want to be thrown into that there lava.

Dedede smiled, he knew how to make the artist crack.

"Oh, Riiiiiiiibon!!"

Ribbon was further ahead with Kirby and Waddle, but she was still within earshot as she whipped around.

"Is there a problem, Dedede?"

A smile made its way across the king's face as he looked back to the stunned artist.

"Well…is there a problem?"

Smiling weakly, Adeleine assured them that there was no problem indeed.

Mere seconds later, Dedede was cooling himself (if you could even do that while in a volcano) with a mini-fan, Adeleine scowling quietly behind him.

When Kirby jumped across the last chasm, he saw that a molten rock was about to crush Waddle Dee. Choosing not to call out to him, Kirby inhaled, then let out a huge puff of ice that completely froze the rock in a block of ice.

"Thanks, Kirby," Waddle called as he walked up the pathway to the cavern exit.

"I say," Ribbon commented as she flew alongside Kirby, "you couldn't have picked a better time to keep that ice power."

Walking into the next cavern, Waddle immediately stepped to the side in order to avoid the ablaze Bobo, which soon fell flat under Dedede's hammer.

"I'll never understand why they're running around in here of all places," Kirby said, "I mean, it's a volcano; they should be happy here."

Adeleine wiped some sweat from her forehead and stepped near the edge of the pathway when, suddenly, it began to move forward on its own.

"Ad," Waddle called, "what are you doing?!"

"Don't ask me; it moved by itself!!"

As Adeleine started moving back and forth on the moving platform, she looked above and saw a pair of Burnis birds: birds that were made of fire and would drop steaming boulders on their enemies. When absorbed, Kirby would gain the fire ability.

"Alley…OOP!!" Kirby shouted as he jumped from his position and landed alongside Adeleine. Ribbon only had to fly, while Waddle and Dedede made their way across by hopping across the skinny platforms.

The Burnis pair swooped down in an attempt to peck at Ribbon and Adeleine, yet they meet extreme cold when Kirby jumped before them and let out a puff of ice, freezing them instantly.

Waddle jumped across the skinny platforms and landed on the other side, but when Dedede went for the jump, his robe suddenly caught fire when a Magoo: black fireballs with mean yellow eyes, popped out of the everlasting lava and brushed the robe. Needless to say, the king was in agony, even though the fire wasn't touching his body.

"PUT IT OUT, PUT…IT…OUT!!!"

"Hold STILL," Waddle shot back as he tried desperately to extinguish the flame. This proved impossible, as Dedede kept moving back and forth, running blindly into a pit where he was submerged.

"That ain't good," Adeleine said, but she retracted that statement when Dedede emerged, looking like a roasted duck.

Kirby stepped forward, took in a big breath, and silenced Dedede by freezing him solid.

"That should do it."

Waddle took the job of carrying Dedede as he and the others continued jumping across the skinny platforms, trying greatly to avoid catching fire by the Magoo creatures that were constantly popping out of the lava, while at the same time, contending with the Burnis birds from above.

Landing on safe ground…for now, Adeleine saw a pair of Galbo creatures on the ascending platforms. She hit the dirt when one opened its mouth and let out a powerful breath of fire that would've torched her.

Inspiration came to the pink puffball as he stood on his feet.

"Kirby!" Ribbon exclaimed. "What are you trying to pull?!"

"Just watch me," he assured her, "this is kind of risky, but I'm sure it'll work."

Kirby jumped forward and to the side before the Galbo could catch him, took in a breath, and immobilized the Galbo creature. He wasn't done there, as he picked up the Galbo, jumped to the next platform, and threw the frozen Galbo into the living one, obliterating them both.

"Gutsy move," Waddle called as he made his way to the platform Kirby was standing on. Once Adeleine and Ribbon arrived as well, the platform began to move forward, but at the same time, the platform opposite it was moving towards them.

"They're converging," Adeleine concluded.

Once the platforms met, the gang got on the opposite platform that brought them to the other side. Once Waddle had dispatched of the rookie Pompey, they descended down the platforms and into the next cavern.

And boy, was this cavern ever so spacious and wide. The chasms were even wider and lava was flowing from every direction. The hollow cave stretched for quite some distance.

"I figure there's a shard here somewhere," Ribbon said to the others as the Crystal Shard began to glow.

"Well, clearly this is where I make my contribution."

The others were surprised that Dedede had thawed as quickly as he did, but, hey, they were in a volcano, so what'd you expect?

"Kirby, you get on my back. Waddle, you lead the way and get rid of the obstacles ahead of us." He then looked to Adeleine and Ribbon. "You two just try and keep up with me."

Waddle jumped high into the air, grabbing the first Burnis bird and throwing it into the one further ahead. Dedede jumped across the first lava river and began trudging up the long incline. He stopped when the huge stone pillar blocked his way and then took out his hammer.

"Well, guess it's time to show off my strength."

"Er…Dedede, you know you could just walk around the pillar," Waddle suggested.

"Yeah, but that'd take all the fun out of it."

Winding up for the strike, Dedede twirled the hammer around before bringing it down, crushing the pillar completely. He then cleared away any clutter or debris as Adeleine and Ribbon walked by. They all descended the incline and Waddle was prepared to jump across when a Magoo shot out of the lava, making him stop. Up above, Waddle saw that a Burnis was busily flying when he got an idea.

"Kirby, do me a favor and freeze this here Magoo."

Departing from Dedede for a quick second, Kirby shot out his icy breath and froze the Magoo before it could sink back into the lava. Waddle jumped onto the block and catapulted himself into the air, bringing his would be fists down upon the Burnis and sending it sailing towards the lava. As such, the gang jumped across the chasm where Dedede obliterated yet another pillar…once again refusing Waddle's simple choice to walk around the pillar.

As Dedede descended the incline, Kirby got on top of the king's head and froze three Bo creatures: mysterious black balls with white eyes that did…well, nothing except float there. He landed back on top of Dedede and saw that Adeleine and Waddle were already jumping across the skinny columns that were protruding out of the lava. The two of them plus Ribbon followed suit.

The area was beginning to get a bit cramped, but not really. The columns were now very skinny and it only took Dedede one swing to get rid of them, as well as a Galbo that just wouldn't budge. Dedede smashed through pillar after pillar until he shoved the hammer into one…and it got stuck.

"What the--" Dedede stammered as he tried greatly to remove the hammer from the pillar until Ribbon flew over to it, gave it the slightest tug, and it came out, hitting the king right in the face.

Adeleine couldn't help but suppress her laughter, as she knew that laughing out loud at other's misfortunes would resort in her bottom becoming sore.

"All right you columns, look out!!"

Dedede charged forward in an attempt to burst through this column and what he assumed would be the next, but when he destroyed the first one, Kirby had to literally force Dedede to stop when his feet nearly touched the hot lava before him.

"See?" Kirby muttered. "What would you do without us? We're gonna have to hop across those short little platforms.

As Dedede hopped across the first platform, he brought his hammer high up into the air and was determined to lay on the pain to this pillar before him. When he did that, the pillar was destroyed, but they discovered that within it was a Crystal Shard fragment.

"Now that's thinking with brute force!" Ribbon chimed in as she grabbed the jewel.

The gang jumped across some more tiny platforms, having to be even more careful, as the Magoo creatures were just shooting out of the lava whenever they pleased. When at last they reached the other side of the huge cavern, they let out a sigh of relief as they walked through the exit shaft.

Kirby was the last one to exit the shaft when he noticed it slammed shut behind him. There was no way to bust it down.

"Well, good thing we got that shard before we left," he said.

The pathway before them was littered with creatures and critters, ranging from Cairn creatures to Bobos and even angry Galbos. As Adeleine warily walked under the constantly moving Gordo creatures, a giant bubble suddenly exploded in the lava next to her.

"Cool!" She squealed, but then some of the molten rock landed in her shirt. "NOT COOL!!!"

The painter sprinted forward, jumping across the pathways and trying desperately to shake out the piece of molten rock when she tripped on a jagged edge of the platform, shooting herself into the air and sending her downward where she was now hanging on one of the ledges.

"HEEEEEEEELLLLLPPPPPPP!!!"

Ribbon snorted as she looked back to the other three.

"Can I please do it? Even though it wasn't intentional, she should've stood still so we could get it out for her?"

Dedede took off his coat for a second to get some of the sweat out of it. "Ribbon, as much as I'd love to see Adeleine crying while you administer some swift punishment…again, this isn't the time. We're in a volcano--"

"With liquid hot magma--," Waddle added.

"And it's hot to boot!" Kirby finished.

Ribbon felt like pouting, but Queen Gretchen of Ripple Star had taught her better than that. Adeleine's spanking would have to wait. Sighing, she flew into the air and saw Adeleine hanging by her hands on one of the platforms. She motioned for the others to help her up, and when they did, Adeleine was surprisingly…silent.

"Heh…it fell out when I was hanging right there. Thanks for the save, you guys."

Kirby playfully punched Adeleine on the side. "That's why we're a team, after all."

The show of emotion was quickly stopped when a Spark creature activated its electric barrier and Kirby received an electric shock, launching him high into the air as he made something that sounded like a mix between a yelp and a cry.

The Sparky creature quietly laughed and began hopping away until Adeleine walked over and simply stepped on the buggy eyed thingy.

Continuing down the pathways, Kirby looked to his left and saw some menacing looking Bronto Burts in the background, just…waiting…waiting ever so still. Kirby sighed; he had seen this exact same scenario before when he was on Rock Star, and this situation was no different. The only change was the location, but Kirby's plan was the same different as well. When he ran past the space where the birds would have come past, he quickly turned around and froze them solid, each and every one of them. Dedede was whizzing by with his hammer to finish the job by obliterating the frozen birds.

Waddle led the way as he pounced on the Magoo creatures that were jumping out of the inferno. He captained the crew across the rocky podiums and stopped when he crushed the Galbo under his feet.

Ribbon looked on with a bit of surprise as she saw the streams of lava coming from the wall.

"Well, it is a volcano, so I wouldn't be surprised if there was lava coming out of the snow."

No one acknowledged Adeleine's comment as they warily maneuvered themselves around the lava streams and across the skinny platforms before they headed into the next room…which looked virtually empty save for the Bobos who were dancing to the beat of the hula skirt wearing Chacha creature that was swinging its maracas rhythmically. There appeared to be nothing of interest in the room…that is, until the Crystal Shard began reacting wildly to the strange red and brown mound in the center of the room.

Kirby went up and tapped the strange mound. "Maybe something's in there? IS SOMETHING INSIDE OF THERE?!?!?!" He punctuated each of those words with a breath of icy goodness and when the mist had cleared, there was a shard fragment.

"Those color coded shards don't exactly add up all of the time if we're in a volcano and this red and black mound was shattered by ice," Dedede pointed out.

The next room was a lot bigger than the last, but the gang had to walk steadily on this rickety pathway. Adeleine looked to her right and saw that there was a huge lava bubble protruding from the wall that looked like it would erupt at any second.

"Um…you guys?" She asked, tapping Waddle's shoulder.

"Complain later, Adeleine," Kirby called as he discarded the snowy power up and went for a Poppy Brother creature, giving the single bomb power up.

The wall behind them began to rumble and Adeleine began to sweat even more due to nervousness.

"YOU GUYS!!"

"WHAT?!?!" They all answered, turning around with fire in their eyes. That same fire in their eyes quickly turned to ice when the wall burst and lava came rushing out like a great flood.

"RUN FOR YOUR NO GOOD LIFE!!!" Adeleine hollered as she and the others ran as fast as they could down the pathways, over the hurdles, past the annoying Burnis birds.

Unfortunately, Kirby's eyes spotted a delectable piece of strawberry cake.

"Ooh, come to Kirby, my pretty," he muttered as he began to drool, only to be dragged forcibly by Ribbon.

"THIS ISN'T THE TIME FOR FOOD, KIRBY!!"

"BUT…BUT…THE CAKE GOODNESS!!"

Kirby's screams were drowned out by the oncoming surge of lava coming their way.

They all entered the room and were glad when the shaft shut behind them, but something was wrong: that annoying rumbling noise hadn't gone away.

Adeleine looked over the edge of the pathway and saw that the lava was steadily…rising?

"IT'S COMING UP NOW!"

"Up?" Kirby inquired. He looked up and saw a series of floating platforms they could use to get out.

"But we haven't found the last shards inside the volcano," Ribbon protested.

Waddle jumped to the first platform, then the next. "We'll work that out later, Ribbon! What we need to focus on right now is getting the current Shard out of here intact!"

Safety came first as the gang began traversing up the floating platforms, batting away the annoying flying Bonehead creatures in the process. As Ribbon ascended, however, she saw something glowing in the distance.

"There's a fragment right there!" She yelled as she pointed to their right.

Kirby jumped up and began floating towards the platform. He grabbed the fragment, getting rid of the pestering Sandman creature in the process. He made his way back to the gang, but not before taking the chance to combine the bomb elemental crystal with the hopping Kacti. He would have to find out what Bomb and Needle would give him later.

The cavern began to get even narrower and cramped, though the platforms were easier to climb. Dedede crushed the star blocks that were obstructing their view and a smile formed on his face when he saw the hole at the top. Needless to say they all jumped into the shaft.

…but they weren't in the clear yet, as they were still in the volcano. The only good thing was that there was no surge of lava chasing them, but this area seemed to be…empty. Because they were still in the volcano, they couldn't understand what needed to be done.

"Technically," Waddle chimed in, "we're probably still missing a shard."

Rumble

"What was that?" Adeleine said as she began walking around. They were on solid ground, but before them was a near endless ocean of lava that had only four lonely platforms. Suddenly, something big and blobby and ugly began coming out of the lava. It looked like a giant lava bubble, but this one had empty black eyes and an even emptier black mouth. It looked towards the troop and growled wrathfully.

"GIIIIIVE MEEEE THE SHAAAAARRRRDDDDD!!!!!"

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Phazon: While the fourth level of Neo Star is one of my favorites, I'd forgotten about how long it was, as well. Ah well, hope you enjoyed the chapter and that I didn't put you to sleep if you thought it was boring. Next up is the battle between the gang and the boss of Neo Star, whose name will be given in the next chapter for those who don't know. Stay tuned for the next chapter!