Chapter 29: And Behind Door Number One...
AN: Hello and sorry for the long hiatus. Hope this is a nice holiday treat and pay close attention to what happens.
"Now you die!"
The dancing Chacha chucked both of its maracas towards Ribbon. The fairy dodged the first while Dedede batted away the second. Ribbon's wings fluttered as she soared towards the Chacha, but stopped just clear of a fireball that zipped past. Her eyes darted towards the grinning Galbo.
"You're not going anywhere! She's the one the Dark One wants dead!"
"Shut up." Dedede flattened the Galbo under his hammer. A smile formed as he heard the Galbo scream beneath the weight of his hammer. "Come on, guys! Time to get rid of these pests once and for all!"
At that command, the others charged. Adeleine went a-swinging her painted bat at the charging Gabon. "Hold still already!" Adeleine lunged again, but hit the air. The Gabon leapt into a corner, unscrewed its head, and waited for the swinging artist to get closer. "Come on, I can still see you!" Adeleine's unguided rant blocked the sound of her bat cracking against a skull helmet. As Adeleine lowered her arms, she watched the skull crash into the rest of the Gabon's body and into a wall where the body collapsed into a heap of bones.
Looks like she's doing well, Kirby thought as he caught another Poppy Brother bomb and threw it back at the source. Yet as soon as the Poppy Brother disappeared, an erupting Pompey took its place.
The Pompey turned towards Kirby. "You're in my sight, star warrior! You're going down!" Pompey spat three rock after rock after Rock at Kirby and made sure to keep the invaders at bay.
Kirby swung his saber around his back and charged, but froze in place as a lance flew across the room and came inches from skewering him. He watched as the Ghost Knight's lance dug itself from the wall and returned to its owner. "Where are they all coming from?!"
"Don't know!" Waddle Dee grabbed another Pompey and launched it through a window. "Whoever's doing this saved their best stuff for last!" He went for the Ghost Knight and tried wrestling the lance out of its hand, but the Knight pulled back and tossed Waddle Dee through one of the walls.
"Nyah! I have defeated you!" The Knight managed to say before a flipper hoisted it into the air.
"You can't just snatch something from these guys, Waddle! You need muscle power!" Dedede tossed the Ghost Knight, lance first, across the room where it impaled itself through both a shivering Snowman and pouting Pompey.
Adeleine stopped a-swinging when the room fell silent. No more enemies jumped through windows and the one sound was the quiet hum of the shard fragment that appeared from thin air as the doors opened. "So…what, every time we get rid of these guys we get another shard? How's that happen?"
"Adeleine, you are questioning how the shards appear now?" Ribbon asked as she collected the fragment. "Just accept it as magical or mystical."
"I thought the shards were mythical."
"No, it's mystical."
"So…mythisical?"
"Can we go already?!" Waddle Dee poked his head in from the other side of the wall.
Kirby walked through the door as waves of nostalgia hit him in the face. An enormous apple tree painted onto the wall stood amidst clouds decorated in a pale shade of cerulean. Kirby thought for a second that the tree glared at him and prepared to spit out a powerful gust. The sound of children laughing filled Kirby's ears as Bumber propellers dropped from the air and trotted up and down the ascending staircase.
Adeleine used one of the Bumbers as a baseball and slammed it into the wall. "Guys, let's go. This room creeps me out."
They climbed the stairs and rushed through the door just as it sealed shut behind and them.
With a heavy groan, Dedede slammed his hammer against the ground. "Oh, come on! This isn't funny anymore!"
"Was it ever funny?" Waddle Dee replied as he gazed into the room. A nice blue, pink, and orange checkerboard carpet had been laid out for them, but no time to relax. Sparks rained from the ceiling and set the carpet ablaze while the snickering Sparky raindrop fell from the ceiling. "No, it's still not funny."
Kirby took the emerald and yellow crystal out of his mouth and tossed it into one of the walls. "At least I get to start with something fresh."
"Or something nasty," Adeleine responded as she pointed to the black Mariel spider crawling from the ceiling. The artist made sure to paint herself a can of bug spray.
All of a sudden, Waddle Dee felt the ground beneath him rotate as he spun round and round. He leapt back just before a Sawyer saw could buzz right through his body. Yet he leapt up and over the saw to avoid being pierced by the pinching Kany crab.
"There must be a hundred of these guys!"
"Wow." Dedede marveled at Adeleine's intelligence. "You got to that number without taking off your shoes and socks."
"How about I put my sock-" Adeleine's rant had been cut off when Kirby kicked the Mariel spider into her, which then sent her into Dedede.
"Argue later. Fight now!" Kirby absorbed the nearby Punc and rushed at the burning Bobo.
"We'll finish this later." Adeleine pulled out her makeshift bat and continued her a-swinging. Sure, she wouldn't get very far swinging with her eyes closed, but if she managed to- through pure luck- crack the Gabon's skull open, maybe lightning could strike twice.
"Hey artist, you're about to be short one skirt!"
Adeleine ignored Dedede's taunts, but she couldn't ignore the sound of something ripping at her clothes. She spun around and saw the Kany crab and Sawyer snipping and sawing away. With an undignified squeal, the artist slammed her hammer down once, twice, three times more than a lady should. But when the disjointed cries of the crab and saw groaned beneath her hammer, she grinned and put away her hammer in victory.
On his side, Waddle Dee grabbed a Hack hammer and used it counter a Yariko's spear. "Got any better ideas?"
Without its weapon, the Yariko jumped atop the Nruff pig. It pulled out another spear as the Nruff dragged its hoof against the ground and snorted. With a wai, the Nruff charged.
Waddle Dee, in an attempt to show off his rugged, raw strength, somehow tore apart the ground beneath him and fashioned a shield. He also dragged his feet across the ground and charged towards the Nruff. His yell filled the room, fire raged in his eyes, and the power of the world seemed to be behind him as he prepared for a final rush.
And then he flew right over the Yariko and Nruff.
"What the-" Waddle looked around as his newfound rival continued charging along. He struggled and squirmed to get free, but remained trapped by Ribbon's iron grip. "Ribbon, why would you do that? I was on the verge of a major victory!"
"Oh, grow up." Ribbon rolled her eyes.
Instead, the now out of control Nruff continued charging towards a frightened Emp penguin. Rather than defend itself, the Emp ran away and beak first into a wall. Before the Emp could break itself free, the Nruff slammed into it as the Yariko fell off and hit the ground headfirst.
Kirby turned his head at the sound of the door opening. "Good. Now we can get out of here."
This time, someone took the time to paint a rainbow across the wall and give the room a more festive feel by painting a giant Christmas tree.
Adeleine snorted. "Some artists have no taste. They put the Christmas balls on the tree, but forget the star. That's a shame."
"You paint baseball bats in your free and that's not a shame?" Waddle Dee asked as he hopped atop one of the bouncing Bouncy springs. "You artists never agree on anything."
"Indeed," Ribbon agreed. "Can we continue?"
She's eager, Kirby thought to himself. He walked through the opening at the end of the staircase and wished for an exit. "And behind door number three…" A Victorian style room. Emerald teeth stood on either side of the door to Kirby's left and the decorated orange-red sun painted on the room's floor reflected against the ceiling window. "More locked rooms. I guess I got it right."
The piercing shriek of a winged Bonehead creature had Kirby jerk his head to the right. The scary skull soared towards Ribbon, but Kirby leapt into the air, spun around and kicked the Bonehead into the wall.
Dedede took out his hammer and tackled the bouncing Cairn to the ground, Waddle Dee went for the next bouncing Bouncy, and Adeleine now found more delight in a makeshift hammer as opposed to a bat.
Yet as soon as Dedede crushed the Cairn did a buzzing Plugg take its place. He swatted that away, but then a Kapar duck clung onto his hammer. He groaned in frustration as he swung his hammer to shake off the Kapar. "No matter how many of these things we get rid of, ten more take their place!" With one final thrust, he flung the Kapar into a Kacti cactus and burning Burnis just before Adeleine could put it out with her makeshift liquidizing ultra dousing device.
Kirby waited for the door to open, which happened after a long five seconds. He looked to Ribbon. "What's wrong?"
"The shard's starting to react, but I don't see one."
"Maybe it's in the next room," Waddle suggested as he entered the hallway.
I'm not so sure, Ribbon thought to herself as she flew under the ceiling window and over the untouched painted sun. As long as it's reacting, at least it's a sign this is almost over.
While the others ascended yet another long staircase, Adeleine took out a container of blue paint. "Another big tree on the wall and it doesn't even look festive. Guys, I think I should stay here awhile and paint the tree."
"Maybe Kirby and I could give you constructive criticism on how to paint this entire building and that cave we came from the way you want it."
Adeleine's face beamed at Waddle's suggestion. "You mean it?!"
"…artist, don't make me paint something and hit you with your own easel," was all Dedede said as he walked around a rambling Rocky creature.
"And now behind door number four…" Kirby mumbled as he hoped for an exit. Yet alas…
"I'd like to say I'm getting angry but that happened when we got to the second room," Waddle told the others as the doors slammed shut behind them again.
A kaleidoscope painting adorned the ground, much to Adeleine's delight as the artist went to work to finish the untouched parts of the floor.
"Don't get too upset, Waddle." Dedede pointed to the ceiling where several Flora flowers and a Fishbone creature floated overhead. "Looks like we have to get airborne this time."
Kirby floated near the ceiling, inhaled a large amount of air, and blew the Fishbone into the wall. "Any suggestions for you guys?"
Dedede and Waddle looked to Adeleine, who had more fun deciding between goldenrod and peach. The same thought crossed their mind: human projectile.
Adeleine applied no more than one stroke of her brush before she felt something hoist her into the air by her skirt. She looked and saw Dedede- and a snickering Waddle Dee- lining her up like a cannon. "Hey, what are you-"
"Take a flying tackle attack!"
Dedede chucked Adeleine threw the air. The wind whipped through her hair, blew off her hat, and caused her cheeks and lips to warble to an impossible level as her squeal caused windows to shatter. She held up her bottle of ink as a last defense against the floating Flora and Bonefish, but she crashed through both of them and her foot got caught in the second Flora's propellers. The Flora spun Adeleine 'round and round while the artist's brain bounced around in her head like a loose eight ball. Just as Adeleine saw the floor come closer into view, Dedede skidded across the room and caught the screaming girl.
"There. You had fun and helped us get rid of those pests. What were you worried about?"
Adeleine didn't respond. She didn't enjoy becoming a human cannonball and decided to save her response for Dedede when she painted his castle pink.
Two black Bo balls descended on Ribbon, yet rather than run away, she shined the Crystal Shard in their direction. The light caused flames to spread across their bodies until nothing remained but smoldering ashes. Ribbon froze and lowered the Shard to her side as she realized that she had just eradicated some of Dark Matter's minions. No help from Kirby. All by herself. Maybe I can still do this.
Kirby grabbed onto the Skud rocket and tried to redirect its course.
"Hey!" The Skud tried veering left and right to throw off Kirby. "Lemme go!"
"No way! I've always wanted to ride a rocket!"
"You mean…another rocket," Waddle Dee muttered to himself.
Kirby swerved back and forth while on the Skud, but he still couldn't get a firm grasp. "Well, I can't just ride you around forever." Kirby saw Dedede swatting away at two Mumbies, while Waddle Dee and Adeleine dealt with the Ice Propellers and Bumber umbrellas. "Looks like you're the one in trouble," Kirby told the Skud. He turned his direction towards the windows, focused on the center, and jumped off at the last second while the Skud screamed its way out of the cave and into the stratosphere. Kirby landed next to Ribbon smiled. "Problem solv-" A bolt of lightning interrupted his victory speech.
A Zoos floated overhead in its cloud as it prepared another thunderbolt. "You were saying, star warrior?" One, two, three lightning bolts came down in Kirby's direction as he dodged bolt after bolt. He tried to get close, but each time he did, the Zoos detonated one of its electric shocks. "Give it up. You can't win!"
"Oh, yeah? Well, watch out for that balloon."
"What balloo-" Before the Zoos could turn around, Dedede had already rocketed a Scarfy towards it. Both went sailing through the window with a wail as the doors opened.
"If the next room isn't the last one, I'm blaming you, artist," was all Dedede told Adeleine as he ascended the hallway staircase.
"Hey!" Adeleine inched her way around the floating Gordo. "It's not my fault Ripple Star's fairies don't know how to make a maze fun!"
Ribbon's eye twitched in annoyance.
"Well, at least they painted the wall with a night sky this time. They've got some artistic taste," Adeleine added.
"And behind door number five…" Kirby began as the door slammed shut. Three of them appeared on sight. "Three more Bronto Burts. Does Dark Matter think we're gonna start flying all over the place. Yet before Kirby could attack, two Pteran pterodactyls attempted a dive bomb from above.
As Waddle Dee jumped to his aid, a Burnis bird missed him by a nose as it created a miniature burning crater. Waddle went to inspect the hole, yet once he did, a Frigis soared from beneath the ground and knocked him off of his feet. "Oh, come on!" Waddle complained as more birds flew overhead. "That's just not possible!"
Adeleine pulled out her makeshift dousing device, but in a flash, another Burnis bird had flown through and burned a hole in her artwork.
"Okay, this is more than enough." Kirby looked around for a way to end this now. At the far end of the room, two Turbis: purple electric balls surrounded by four metal teeth, zipped up, down, and all around the room. That's it! "Waddle, Dedede, get those two spark thingies!"
Before Waddle could do so, he saw Dedede conversing with some of the Bronto Burt birds. Seconds passed before the pink birds seized the buzzing Turbis and handed them to the king. Waddle scratched his head in confusion. "Explain that."
"What can I say? They think I'm one of them," was Dedede's best explanation as he handed Kirby the Turbis. "And artist, if I hear a birdbrain remark, you're finished!"
"Never mind, then."
Kirby swallowed both Turbis and shut his eyes. A jolt ran through his body as he felt electricity surge from within. Bolts ran from under his feet. He listened, then smiled at the piercing shrieks and cries of the many birds converging on him. "Everyone, move away!"
A beat…
Then a giant electrical field burst from within and surrounded Kirby's body. The strange force field buzzed and sizzled in anticipation as the birds continued charging. The first Bronto Burt opened its beak to swallow the pink puffball whole.
It did not expect a bolt of lightning to zap straight through its body and obliterate it in seconds.
Another Bronto attempted to slow down, yet the sudden onslaught of Bronto Burt, Burnis, and Frigis all rushed without stopping. A single jolt ran through one Frigis, which connected to a Burnis, which had been pushed by two Bronto Burt until every single winged creature save for Dedede burned under the intense electricity that sizzled, grilled, and charred them all to nothing but burnt remains.
When he was sure, Kirby opened his eyes and let the force field drop. He tried to hide the smile on his face at the sight of crisp birds.
"Well," Adeleine began, "looks like we're having birdie for breakfast…again!"
Ribbon grabbed the shard that appeared and would've whacked Adeleine over her head for her bad joke if Dedede hadn't done it first...and then a second time.
In the next room just stood a single staircase occupied by five N-Z's. A light at the end of the staircase signaled the group's victory.
But then Ribbon looked up.
She held her breath as the shard dropped from her hand. The strong surge of confidence vanished. The sense of companionship and love from Kirby and the others all seemed to fade away as she stared at the endless amount of darkness looming overhead.
Dark Matter warbled and crept about the room's walls. The occasional tentacle slipped down and attempted to grab the Shard, but the others held their ground.
Ribbon's world of hope faded. Her breathing raced as her heart beat like a furious drummer pounding for dear life. She shivered when she thought she saw a red eye float amongst the darkness and stare at her as if to pierce her soul. Each time she tried to avert her eyes, some unknown driving force almost tempted her to look back into the face of evil. An invisible pair of hands forced her gaze to match that of Dark Matter's.
Three. That was all it took before. Three orbs of Dark Matter managed to sidetrack her from her mission. What could an entire ceiling- at least, she hoped that's all it was- of Dark Matter do to her?
"Ribbon!"
Kirby shook Ribbon's shoulder for dear life.
"We ought to keep going. Adeleine said she could hear voices."
Ribbon did indeed hear the familiar voice of…Emily and Dixie, was it? Sweat raced down Ribbon's neck as she locked gazes with Dark Matter again, but the calls of her friends caused her wings to flutter. "Indeed! Two of those voices belong to fairies who assist the Queen! Let's make haste!"
Dedede led the way, batting away any and all N-Z creatures that blocked his path. They went through the door one after another: Dedede, Adeleine, Waddle Dee, Ribbon.
Slam!
Kirby hit the door face first and heard the immediate knocking from the other side.
You just could not leave yourself out of a matter that did not concern you.
Kirby turned around as the darkness began to crawl down the walls.
The fairy is not your priority, star warrior. You are not from similar planets and you do not share the same destiny. And despite that, you have served as her footstool in order to help her reclaim what should not belong to her: this kingdom and this planet.
The darkness covered the entire right wall.
"Kirby, are you all right?!"
"Should I knock down the door?"
"We can bust through this thing in no time, Kirby! Just give us the word!"
Amidst the rambling from the darkness and his friend's pleas, Kirby took a deep breath and took one step away from the door. "You guys go on ahead. Ribbon's friends need you." He turned towards the center of the room. "I'll go it alone from here."
"Are you mad, puffball?! You'll never make it!"
"Enough! Ribbon, you and the others start freeing all of your friends and get this planet back in shape!"
"We won't leave you!"
"That's an order!"
The pounding of the door continued as the darkness crawled down the opposite wall. Kirby didn't jump when a tendril inched him further towards the center and away from the door.
On the other side, Dedede hammered away, but just when he felt he had made a dent, a purplish fist emerged from the door and slammed into his body. Dedede flung like a helpless rag doll down the stairs while Adeleine rushed after him.
Waddle looked to Ribbon, who stood shaking. "Ribbon, we don't have a choice! Kirby told us to go on!"
"And then what?!" Ribbon's voice cracked as fresh tears ran down her face. The shard shook as her body refused to stop moving. "Kirby was all I had when I landed on Pop Star and you want me to abandon him?!"
A black tendril surged from beneath the door and rushed towards the Shard. Waddle kicked away the tendril as Ribbon grabbed the jewel.
"We have to go now!"
Kirby did not stop in his tracks when he heard Ribbon's last shrill cry of his name. He stood in the center of the room as wave after wave of the darkness enveloped the space. It had neither a beginning nor end.
Then the laughing began. Not a nice, jovial laugh like Ribbon's or Adeleine's, or even a spiteful one like Dedede. It seemed to lack any emotion at all.
A white slab flew past Kirby's face and floated dead center before him. Smaller pieces soared from all directions and slammed together until a perfect polygonal figure had been formed. Out of the smallest corner, red and black bled together into the polygon. The iris of the blood eye looked around and eyed the pink creature below.
More eyes bled into the figure until Kirby found it hard to tell whether the figure was still white or not. Regardless, he licked his lips and braced himself.
"It's all come down to this."
The figure transformed.
Tonight is a wonderful night to die.