Phazon: Sorry if the wait was long, but I hope this makes up for that. This is a long level to create a chapter for, but I think I got as much out of it as I could.

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Riding on Cloud Nine

Kirby's earth shattering wail could be heard from the far reaches of Shiver Star and back as he continued coasting higher and higher towards the sky.

"That Zebon tricked meeeeeeeee!!!!" He loudly proclaimed as he burst through a cloud that had a convenient hole for him to blow through. The screams came to a halt when Kirby landed on solid clouds and found himself atop the clouds.

Kirby had never seen heaven, but even if he had a vague idea, where he was now would have to be a substitute. Aside from the breezes in the air, all was calm. The ground was littered with multicolored stars and huge diamonds that were protruding from the underside of the clouds.

"Hey," Kirby said as he jumped on top of the clouds, "how can there be solid clouds all the way up in the sky?"

Kirby jumped across a gap and was even more cautious this time around when he leapt because he didn't want to find out exactly how long the fall downwards would be if he lost his footing. Once he landed on the other side, he saw a Bronto Burt fly out of a hole in one of the clouds. He cautiously approached it.

"Excuse me, but you wouldn't happen to have seen some kind of crystal jewel land around here, have you?"

The Bronto Burt paused in midair and looked in the direction of the gigantic jewels strewn about the clouds. After looking around for five seconds, the Bronto Burt stared at Kirby.

"I…was kind of hoping for something a bit smaller than that, but I guess all birds can't be that smart."

Taking offense to this, the Bronto Burt called over his comrade who flew out of another hole in the cloud. The two of them zipped over to Kirby and pecked furiously, but they barely did any damage due to his puffy exterior. So long as their beaks weren't blunt, the Bronto Burts would wear themselves out trying to attack Kirby.

"Ha-ha! I may as well be made of rubber!"

Kirby grabbed the first Bronto Burt by one of its wings and slammed it on the ground…beak first. Needless to say the Burt's beak shattered due to the force of the impact. It was shocking to the creature because it had heard of Kirby's monstrous strength, but it had never met Kirby since the puffball never visited Shiver Star.

When Kirby set the first Burt down, the bird got the message and flew off in a huff, its sorrowful tears eventually lost somewhere in the sky. The second Bronto Burt didn't get a chance to retreat since Kirby and grabbed it by the feet. Looking for a good target, Kirby found it in the lone Sir Kibble knight that was practicing different ways to throw its plume. The Kibble's armor had just been given a fresh paint job and he wasn't looking forward to it being ruined.

The Kibble sensed danger and turned in the direction away from Kirby in order to throw its plume at an approaching Pteran pterodactyl. Unfortunately, a strong gust of wind sent the plume back at the Kibble knight, who ended up taking the object straight to the head, sending it off of its high horse (a block) and careening far…far…far down a hole and towards the frigid regions of Shiver Star.

As Kirby watched the Kibble knight go down, he also had the displeasure of seeing his companions suddenly come up, particularly Dedede's hammer, which collided with Kirby's face and sent him tumbling backwards. He'd heard Adeleine's wails, but he wasn't quick enough to avoid getting hit.

Dedede and Waddle landed unceremoniously on the clouds while Ribbon floated down and Adeleine quickly painted herself a parasol. After spitting out a mouthful of clouds, Dedede stormed over to Kirby and removed his hammer from the puffball's face.

"I'M GONNA BASH YOUR FACE IN!!"

"Mmpmm…mhmm…mhnalrmmh?"

"…What?"

Dedede got behind and pushed Kirby while Waddle Dee tried pulling his face out. They didn't work together at first, but after a few seconds, Kirby was back to normal. When his plush face popped back, it bumped Waddle in the face and sent him into Adeleine.

"I was saying that you probably did that already. Where'd you all come from?"

"The same Zebon that you flew up here in," Ribbon replied, "except we all had to work ourselves into it because someone took up a lot of space."

Kirby expected several pairs of glaring eyes to fall on Dedede, but they didn't- they were on Adeleine.

"Hey, it's my easel! I'm not gonna leave it down there to get eaten by birds!"

Adeleine noted the change in the weather. They were still on Shiver Star, but they couldn't believe that it wasn't snowing all the way up in the clouds when they'd just come out of a freak snowstorm. The cool breezes of air still made it a bit chilly, but nothing compared to down below. Adeleine approached the edge of a cloud and let the gentle breeze flow through her hair.

"Hey, artist," Dedede called, "I don't want to see your underwear!"

Embarrassed beyond belief, Adeleine tugged her skirt down and tried to avoid letting anyone see her. Even though she was still too young to know about anything mature, she was still a lady, and just to prove it, she jumped off of the cloud and onto one of the platforms that was rising up and down. She then got on her hands and knees to get a better view of the edge.

"Wow…" she mused, "that's a long drop down."

Adeleine heard the flutter of Ribbon's wings as she hovered next to her.

"Someone would probably fall for a pretty long time until they hit the ground."

Kirby and Waddle chose to ignore the sights and just jumped across the levitating platforms with ease despite the strong wind resistance that was constantly blowing them back. Dedede helped Adeleine jump from platform to platform and Ribbon simply flew across. They then jumped across two stationary platforms, but Dedede and Adeleine had a bit of trouble fighting off the swarm of Pteran.

Waddle landed on another cloud and grabbed one of the Skud rockets before it could scurry away. He threw it into its unsuspecting neighbor Skud, but because both creatures had bomb elemental powers, there was an expected explosion that scared all of the Bronto Burt birds away.

Kirby ran past Waddle and jumped across the levitating pink, yellow, and green platforms, but before he could go any further, Ribbon called out his name as she held up the Crystal Shard.

"It's beginning to react! I think there's another fragment around here."

"Up here in the clouds? Why would pieces of it land up here in the sky?"

Dedede leapt across another cloud and jumped onto one of the large diamonds protruding outward. He was looking through a makeshift telescope that Adeleine had painted.

"Well, if it's shining, I don't see it."

Kirby walked past Dedede, unaware of the huge hole in the cloud ahead of him.

"If the one we have is reacting, then it has to be-"

He never finished his sentence since he fell through the hole and onto another cloud below as opposed to back towards Shiver Star's surface. When Kirby lifted himself up off of the clouds, he saw the fragment.

"Guys, I found it! I don't know how it got all the way up here, but it's here!"

Waddle approached the hole. "Then stop yelling about it and get back up here!"

Before Kirby did so, he saw that the cloud he was on went further on in case he didn't want to float through the hole.

"Meet me at the edge. This stretch keeps on going."

Everyone leapt across the hole, swatting away Pteran in the process, and stopped at the edge, but Kirby wasn't there. He was already traversing the floating platforms ahead, except a Sir Kibble knight had landed a clear shot on his head with its plume. This led to it being absorbed, but as opposed to keeping only one element, Kirby threw the green elemental crystal towards the other Kibble knight on the next platform in order to create the crystal that would give him the double boomerang.

Above him, Kirby watched Adeleine carefully jump from platform to platform without losing her balance.

"Um…why do they all have stars on them? Is this supposed to symbolize something about the planet?"

Waddle leapt over Adeleine's head and onto the next platform. "I don't know, but maybe we'll find out later on."

Slowly but surely, they all made it across and onto solid…clouds. Kirby stood in awe at the enormous dome before him, or at least he thought it was a dome. It wasn't as big as the igloos he'd seen down on the snowy hills, but it came close.

Dedede clutched his hammer at the thought of another giant snowman attacking them, but Adeleine pushed him in from behind and the others followed suit.

As they passed through the entrance, everyone found that the air was thicker and it was more difficult to breathe. In the middle of the path before them was another Zebon.

Kirby cautiously approached the Zebon and attempted to only tap the ball to see if it had any life in it, but the second he touched the Zebon, he was sucked into it. The Zebon's indifferent expression became a smile, and then a glare as it shot Kirby into the air. This time, however, Ribbon latched onto Kirby's right foot in an effort to weigh him down. It didn't work, so both of them were sent sky high.

"Ugh…not again," Dedede groaned as he jumped into the Zebon that launched him into the sky. Adeleine and Waddle mirrored his actions and they all found themselves stuffed into a single Zebon. A Zebon does not expand or grow if more than one thing is stuffed into it, so Kirby, Ribbon, Adeleine, Waddle Dee and King Dedede were all cramped into a single Zebon, struggling for air. They had no time to complain since the second Zebon they were in launched them all into yet another Zebon.

"Waddle, get your foot out of my-" Dedede's complaints were drowned out by Adeleine's sudden shrieks and cries that resonated throughout the Zebon, harming everyone's ears.

Never mind the fact that the Zebon they were all in was spinning. It was the large number of Bronto Burt birds, Scarfy faces, and Fishbone creatures that surrounded them on all sides. There's always a bright side to everything, though. Ribbon, noticing the Crystal Shard was reacting again, saw a shard fragment floating in midair to her upper left. Getting to it was the problem since the Zebon was constantly spinning.

"I think if we all force ourselves out at the right time, one of us can grab the shard."

"And then what?!" Adeleine shrieked as she punched Dedede's robe. "We'll just go flying into nowhere and we'll end up back on the snow!"

"But there's another Zebon in every direction," Kirby pointed out as he landed on Waddle's left, "so I think that wherever we go, we'll be safe."

Adeleine pouted and tried to cross her legs, but there was no room, so she couldn't.

"You all go ahead, but I'm staying here where it's saaaff-" She never finished her sentence since the Zebon rotating caused her to land on Dedede's stomach.

"Never mind her. When the Zebon is aiming in the shard's direction, we'll all push, got it?"

Kirby, Waddle, and Dedede all agreed. It didn't take much time and the Zebon was facing the shard. Instantly, they pushed as hard as they could to escape the Zebon, but it did the job for them. It shot all of them, including Adeleine since Dedede grabbed her hand at the last second, out of the bubble and into the air. Kirby, leading the way, blew through each of the Scarfy faces and grabbed the shard fragment in the knick of time.

They all flew into a nearby Zebon and weren't given a chance to do anything since it shot them all back towards the center one at an even faster speed.

Adeleine felt the blood rushing to her head. "Okay…no more. Can we just get on solid ground?"

"We can't do that because we're up in the sky," Dedede muttered.

"YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!!"

"Let's just go towards the surface. There's another huge hole that should lead somewhere safe."

Everyone pushed upward once the Zebon faced that way. They were blasted up into the air and into another Zebon that sent them even higher.

Ribbon flew out first, followed by Kirby and the others. Adeleine, who had been falling behind, was last, and nearly jumped down the hole when a nearby Poppy Brother threw a bomb at her. Dedede swatted the bomb away and grabbed the Brother by its hat.

"Hey, punk, let's see if you can fly."

And with that, Dedede threw the Poppy Brother down the hole and walked on. Before Kirby could walk up to Dedede and ask him something, a Mopoo: white snowball looking creatures that pop out of clouds, dropped down from the clouds and disappeared into the clouds Kirby was standing on.

Waddle threw the next Poppy Brother they saw into a waiting Scarfy situated between some more platforms. The difference between these and the last ones is that these seemed to get smaller and bigger. Adeleine jumped onto a huge pink platform that was occupied by a Cairn creature that she knocked off with her easel. She took a minute to look around for any more shards, but was thrown off when a Gabon from above threw its hat at her. She nearly fell off if not for Kirby grabbing her and throwing her three platforms ahead while he pushed the Gabon off.

Ribbon flew past the light green platform Adeleine landed on just in time to avoid the giant pink boomerang that flew over her head. It was a good thing that she didn't get up, for two seconds later, the green crystal flew past her. Kirby had gotten bored of the same two elements and wanted something new. He found it by absorbing a nearby Tick creature: white raindrops with red pointed caps that could extend at any given point.

"Ribbon…back up for a second," Kirby warned her as he jumped between two Ticks.

Ribbon flew into the air and watched as Kirby suddenly became a pink porcupine. Spikes protruded in every direction, piercing everything close to him, including the two Ticks that weren't fast enough to move.

Waddle and Dedede had leapt on ahead until they reached the clouds, swatting away the annoying Scarfy faces and Cairn creatures. When it seemed like the clouds could go no further, Dedede directed Waddle's attention to the platforms above them. Kirby, Ribbon, and Adeleine joined them eventually.

"Nowhere to go but up," Adeleine said as she climbed one platform and helped Waddle up the next.

As Kirby ascended, he saw that the clouds here gave off a light pink hue. It couldn't have been due to the number of light pink crystals all around them, so why would the clouds be different colors?

"I tell you guys, Shiver Star has nothing but weird-"

A Mopoo emerging from the clouds interrupted Kirby, but it found itself at the end of a long needle in no time at all.

"-looking clouds and never ending snow," Kirby continued as he regressed to his normal form. "I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a giant robot or something next."

Waddle swatted away all of the pesky Mopoo creatures that seemed to come from everywhere. Since there were clouds all around them, these Mopoo came out at almost every second. After taking one more out, Waddle found that no more were coming yet. He jumped across one hole and prepared to jump across another when a Maw emerged from the hole in an attempt to swallow him. Waddle jumped into the air and kicked the Maw back into its hole once it had closed its mouth.

The gaps were getting longer and wider, everyone noticed. It was nothing difficult, but the Bronto Burt birds and Mopoo made it seem that way. When Kirby landed on a cloud, he took out the brownish elemental crystal he had and threw it at the bouncing Sparky in order to create a combination. Moving along, Kirby failed to notice the shadows he passed over until it was too late.

A Maw popped down from above and was prepared to swallow Kirby whole when all of a sudden, a black needle pierced its mouth. It didn't end there, for the Maw felt electricity surging throughout its body until it was destroyed. Kirby hadn't paid attention to what he had done and was confused until Ribbon rushed over to him.

"Guys, what just happened?"

"You turned yourself into a lightning rod."

The shard began reacting again. This time, it was from whatever was inside that strangely well crafted entrance ahead. Everyone whisked into the room only to discover that the entrances didn't lock on them like most did, but were blocked by some tough resistant cushiony material.

Dedede took out his hammer. "Looks like we're in for some fun."

Ribbon pointed towards the center of the yellow and light brown box. "And it's well worth it! There's a shard trapped in that box!"

As Ribbon tried to break the box, a giant Mopoo emerged from the left of the cloud room and tackled her to the ground. Kirby ran under the Mopoo and gave it a powerful thunder jolt, but he hadn't expected to shatter the box containing the shard fragment as well.

Waddle used the clouds as a cushion to bounce himself into one of the Propeller creatures while Dedede knocked off their propellers, rendering them useless. Adeleine painted a bat and treated the Propellers like baseballs.

When the Mopoo entered the clouds again, Kirby tried to see if he could tell by any movement in the clouds, but that didn't do anything.

"Kirby, it's coming from your right!"

Hearing Ribbon's words, Kirby ducked before the Mopoo could strike him. Now Kirby could score a direct hit on the Mopoo. Kirby focused and focused until his body took on the shape of a lightning rod again. A bolt of lightning penetrated the clouds and connected with both Kirby and the Mopoo, but the giant cloud creature still moved on.

Adeleine knocked another Propeller into the wall. "They're starting to come even faster than before!"

"Just keep holding them off!"

Waddle was surprised when the Mopoo suddenly appeared from above and knocked him backwards into Dedede. Kirby ran over and tried to catch it with another lightning bolt, but it had gotten away. Before he could do anything, the Mopoo emerged from the right at a faster speed. Just as it was about to collide with Kirby head on, Dedede appeared from the left and landed a good, solid blow on the Mopoo with his hammer.

"End this already, Kirby! I'm starting to get used to seeing pink!"

Kirby shuffled underneath the Mopoo and gave it one final thunder bolt, obliterating it for good.

"I got it!"

"And I've got the shard!" Ribbon yelled as the barriers to the entrance and exit vanished.

With that, everyone rushed through the exit of the cloud dome…only to find that they were walking on thin air.

Adeleine froze. "Nobody…look…down."

She was the first to do so, but by that time, they were all falling fast and back towards Shiver Star's surface. Well, not everyone since Kirby and Ribbon could just float down.

Kirby looked further down. "Hey, there's another Zebon! Maybe it'll slow us down!"

Kirby and Ribbon easily made their way into the Zebon, but it was a bit harder for Waddle and Dedede since the king himself was so heavy. Adeleine had painted herself a set of wings so she could fly into the Zebon. She didn't have enough time to paint two more pairs.

"YOU GUYS!!!!" Kirby bellowed as he watched Dedede and Waddle fall further.

"Don't worry!!" Waddle replied. "There's another Zebon! We'll jump into that one!"

The Zebon that Kirby, Ribbon, and Adeleine were in shot them downwards at an accelerated rate. It wasn't the slow pace like the other Zebon they'd been in. They eventually caught up to Dedede and Waddle and fell for an extended period of time until they hit solid ground three minutes later.

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Kirby winced as he felt a snowflake land on his body. They were back on Shiver Star's surface and it was still snowing hard. There weren't any snowmen around and the path Kirby and the others were on wasn't as completely covered with snow as the others.

Dedede stood up and squinted at the strange fixture ahead of him.

"What kind of building is that? And why is it painted with purple stripes?"

"Purple represents royalty," Adeleine said as she took a step forward. The others soon followed her into the building.

Inside, Adeleine's jaw dropped and she squealed with delight as she looked at the various conveyer belts, creatures assembling things and objects, and the sense of joy that was complemented by the way the building was painted.

Ribbon just looked around and came up with what she thought was a good enough of a conclusion.

"Clearly, this place is a-"

"TOOOOOOOYYYY FACTOOOORRYYYYYYYY!!!!"

And with that, Adeleine ran off, but she tripped on the edge of the conveyer belt and hit her face on the plastered floor.

Kirby turned around to face Ribbon with hopeful eyes. "Is it really a toy factory, Ribbon?"

Ribbon glared coldly. "No."

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Note: I know that the connection between the cloud level and the next is a bit farfetched, but I'm trying to think of a way to connect these levels that will make sense and could actually happen within the game. Veterans of The Crystal Shards and even readers would know that a world up in the clouds can't just immediately connect back to the ground, so I hope that this method of getting sent down there via Zebon works. I hope you enjoyed reading and that it was worth the wait.