Chapter 27: From Light to Dark
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"Ribbon, you live on one strange planet", was all Adeleine could say to break the silence.
But the artist had a point: Ribbon had told the others that Dark Matter had corrupted Ripple Star to the point where darkness leaked from every crevice. The sun would no longer shine, the sky no longer clear, and birds would no longer sing their praises. So if this was true, how could Ribbon explain the sudden clearing of the sky and planet where a calm magenta sky, rainbow roads, and ginger ground replaced the silent streets and
"Yeah, two seconds ago, we couldn't see the sky and now I can see butterflies sleeping in the clouds? What kind of place is this?" Dedede asked before pounding a lone electric Plugg into the ground with his hammer.
Waddle Dee cleared a hurdle in time to grab the waiting. "Maybe Dark Matter can bend the environment to its own will and match whatever it wants. If it can take over an entire planet, making a planet change from night to day shouldn't be a problem."
Kirby couldn't put a finger on it, but this warped setting felt familiar to him. Too familiar. Before he could say something, he felt a gaze burning into the back of his head. He turned around and saw a Scarfy whistling to itself. Kirby shrugged, began walking again, and whirled back around and saw the same Scarfy whistling. Okay, I know that thing is staring at me, he thought to himself.
"Something wrong, Kirby?"
Kirby kept his eyes trained on the Scarfy for three more seconds before looking to Ribbon. "No, just, you ever feel like you ended up somewhere youve been before, but it wasn't the exact same place?"
"This is her planet, Kirby. Of course she knows that feeling", Adeleine responded, cutting off Ribbon.
"I didnt mean"- Kirby tried to explain himself, but rushed forward and inhaled a Ghost Knight before it could skewer Adeleine with its lance. Kirbys body jutted in different directions for five seconds before he returned to normal.
Dedede turned around when he realized the others weren't keeping up. "You feeling all right, puffball?"
A beat, then pink needles shot out in all directions, piercing two Kacti and a screaming Bobo through the center.
"Right, so the new plan is to stay away from Kirby when angry," Waddle Dee suggested while he went on before bumping into Ribbon. "Whats the problem?"
Ribbon cradled the now vibrating shard. "There's a fragment nearby."
After jumping onto Dedede's back for a better look, Adeleine jumped down and frowned. "I don't see one. That Dark Matter stuff isnt so smart if it just left the pieces lying around on your planet."
"Ever hear of luring someone into a trap, artist?" Dedede asked while straightening his coat. "Either it thinks were too stupid to just grab something without expecting a trap or we could take the shard and boom, the planet explodes."
"It cant be that intelligent," Waddle Dee argued. "How hard was it for us to find the shards so far?"
"But we didnt have to run around planets filled with sunshine, lollipops, and...is that a rainbow?!" Adeleine teetered on pulling out her hair in confusion at the shifting land, but regained her composure as she approached a three-rocked Cairn on a bridge. "Excuse me, Mr. Rock, but have you seen any shiny jewels around here?"
The Cairn continued bouncing up and down, down and up, up and down, until it landed atop Dedede's hammer. "Are you the one called Kirby?"
"No, that's me." Kirby pushed past Waddle and Dedede.
"The overlord spoke of you. He mentioned that you and that rebel fairy would try and spoil his plans and that you should be stopped at all costs. Let me warn you, star warrior, all creatures you faced before pale in comparison to I. Unlike my counterparts, I reveal no secrets, keep my allegiance to the overlord himself, and have no intention in assisting you locate the fragments you speak of. Now, if you would please-"
"Fair enough," Dedede mumbled before hauling the Cairn off of his hammer and into the running stream below the bridge. He watched the Cairns three parts split apart before dissolving in the water, but as he turned around, he took a step back at the gazes Ribbon and Adeleine gave him. "What? He was annoying. If he wasn't gonna help us, we don't need him."
"Good point," Kirby replied before clearing a hurdle and piercing two more suspicious looking Scarfy faces. After the needles retracted, Kirby pointed to the shining light between two Ghost Knights. "Well, there's your shard, Ribbon."
"All right, this is too easy." Dedede approached the Ghost Knight, sidestepped its lance, stole its shield, and flattened it into the ground before grabbing the shard and handing it to Ribbon. "We're so close to the Dark Matter, I can taste it. Why just leave random pieces lying around for us to find?" He looked past the stream ahead to find a giant white eyeball shaped house with bubbles shooting out of its top. And what the heck is that thing?!
"Who cares?" Kirby bounced across one Cairn and onto the other across the stream. "One more shard means were getting closer."
Waddle Dee, Adeleine, Dedede, and Ribbon entered after Kirby, though when the doors slammed shut, Dedede took one step too far and tripped on his now stuck coat. Annoyed, he tugged and tugged, but the coat remained stuck.
While Kirby watched the ceiling fan spin over and over again, Adeleine painted a pair of scissors that fell from the easel and into her hands. She rushed towards Dedede, but all of a sudden, a giant saw sliced through the ground before her. Wood shavings and loose screws flew through the air and onto Adeleine's shirt as she backed away to find the same Sawyer cutting away behind her.
As the saw returned beneath the ground again, Waddle Dee went for Dedede's hammer. "You're not using it now! Let me try it out!"
Kirby leapt backwards when the saws blades emerged again. He rolled into a ball as the needles extended from his body. Upon contact, the needles held the Sawyer in place.
"Outta my way! I'm the king now!" Waddle Dee charged, the hammer in his hands. He jumped into the air and slammed the hammer into the Sawyer. Several blades flew in different directions while others became jammed and tangled among other functioning blades. Before Waddle Dee could reel the hammer back for another smash, the Sawyer managed to retreat back into the ground.
Both Kirby and Waddle Dee listened for any sudden buzzing, but just heard the quiet whoosh of the overhead fan or the chirp of the fluttering Bronto Burt. They stood as still as words in a book as the sudden buzzing rang through their ears.
Behind you.
The ground beneath Kirby crumbled as he dove to the right. Blades whirled in several directions and then moved at a slugs pace.
"Just one more smash!" Waddle Dee swung the hammer around and lopped off three blades. With a clang, sputter, and smash, the Sawyer spun slower and slower until all ends shattered under the hammers weight. The center of the Sawyer cracked open while a Shard fragment rolled over to Dedede's foot, but Adeleine snatched it first.
"If I could use a shard to turn myself into a saw and then an artist, I'd be so happy." She handed Ribbon the shard before rushing through the door.
"So I guess Pop Star doesn't count," Waddle Dee mumbled to himself as he tried to blur the image of Adeleine painting Dark Matter from his mind.
Dark Matter continued its game of environmental roulette with the sun burning like the volcanoes of Neo Star. Butterflies still danced with floating bubbles, the caramel ground showed no signs of corrosion, and rainbows stretched as further than anyone wanted to know.
Dedede set down his hammer. "The second we find this Dark Matter thing, Im smashing it for playing mind tricks on us."
"For that?" Waddle Dee argued. "Not the giant magma monsters, robots, or water with red dots in it?"
"Waddle, I'm a king. Ive got priorities," Dedede explained. "I can get over lava creatures, but messing with my head is too much."
Kirby tried asking another blazing Bobo for directions. "Excuse me, do you know-"
The Bobos response came with a wail. "The fairy is back! The fairy is back! Let the others know of her return!"
"You should not have returned, fairy."
Ribbon turned her attention to the Galbo dinosaur sitting on the red stone behind the screaming Bobo.
"Your presence means you mustered enough courage to return after fleeing like a child. No matter!" The Galbo reared back and blew fresh flames towards Ribbon. After the fairy dodged the first, the Galbo shot one blaze after another to incinerate the fairy, yet she zipped past each fireball like an annoying insect. Then try dodging this! The Galbo opened its mouth again, except a pair of flippers kept it pried open. It looked up and saw a fierce penguin glaring back.
"So you like setting people on fire, huh?" Dedede looked to Waddle, who prepared for another hammering, but Ribbon intercepted him.
"Wait. He aimed for me, so let me take care of it." Ribbon fluttered to the ground and locked gazes with the Galbo. She clenched her fists and held up the Crystal Shard. "Do you see this? This is what your overlord wants. This is what I..." she looked to the others, "We fought to restore and I will not allow you to attempt to take my life again. So keep your empty threats to yourself."
The Crystal Shard shined in Ribbons hands as a white light enveloped the Galbo.
"King Dedede! Throw it into the air!"
Dedede obliged as it hurled the Galbo skyward. Before it could try and escape the bright light, its body burned and steam leaked from its horns. The eyes changed from yellow to white to black until the Galbo disintegrated.
When the light faded, Ribbon felt a blaze wrap around her hands as she dropped the Shard. She stared at the still glowing Shard, then to her trembling hands. I almost lost it. I need to be more careful with the Shard. Ribbon jumped when she felt one of Kirbys hands on her shoulder.
"Ribbon, if it hurts you to do that, don't try it so much."
Adeleine leaned next to Dedede. "Remind me never to mess with her again." Before Dedede could respond, Adeleine picked up a buzzing Sparky and stuffed it into a makeshift sack. "Just in case it gets dark again and we need a searchlight," she explained when Dedede gave her a skeptical glance.
Kirby kept along at a steady pace, piercing another Bobo and Scarfy before he could pull another scary face from behind on him. He grabbed one side of the lone green hedge, swung himself around several times, and shot himself onto a ledge, but he backed off the instant two Shotzo cannon fired in his direction.
Waddle Dee jumped from the ledge and landed atop a bed of flowers below two Propellers. Ahead behind the second hedge stood a Poppy Brother armed with a bomb in each hand. "Say, you happen to see any big black orb with a red eye and dripping with overall evil?"
The answer came when the Poppy Brother threw both bombs in Waddles direction. Waddle Dee took that for a no and rushed forward, but Kirby was two steps faster.
After vaulting over the Poppy Brother, Kirby spat the tan elemental crystal at the Poppy Brother, which resulted in a blend of brown and black. Kirby faced an enraged Waddle Dee. "What? I'm curious."
The next ledge led the five to an open lake. Smiling Scarfy and Glunk looked in every direction except where the five stood.
Kirbys rage rose again when he saw the Scarfy. "All right, that does it! I know those things are watching me!"
"Kirby, you're overreacting to-"
"Stop staring at me!" Kirby waded in the water towards the black and brown island. Hey, you face thingies keep looking at me, now stop it!
They kept on smiling.
"That does it!" Kirby floated into the air between the two and clenched himself. His body warbled and took the shape of a Gordo spike ball. No! THIS is what I become? Kirby tried to move, but the Gordo form was too slow. I'm so angry, I could burst! Kirby's body puffed up until the spikes burst forth, cutting through the Scarfy, Glunk, and the tiny island. As Kirby returned to normal, he expected to land in the water, but instead reached Dedede's head. "Dedede, you ruined my fall!"
"Puffball, you just found another shard!"
Kirby leaned over- pulling Dedede's hat over his eyes in the process- and inspected the jewel floating in the water. "Huh. Guess I did."
Adeleine stepped out of the water- careful to make sure the Sparky didn't electrocute her- and shook off as much water as she could. She waited for the others to join her before stuffing the Sparky into her sack. "Cheer up, guys. We found three more shards, I got a new pet, and were three steps closer to crushing that Dark Master thing. Just look at the bright side."
Before Ribbon could take notice of the Queen's castle, darkness swept overhead and swallowed the sky. Light vanished as evil leaked through every crevice and crack Ribbon could see. The bright and cheery exterior of the Queens castle had been consumed by sinister clouds that sucked all purity out of Ripple Star. Out of the clouds emerged a cackling Keke witch that taunted Ribbon from afar.
Ribbon frowned at Adeleine. "What bright side?"