Chapter 30: Miracles

A pink sphere ran across a thick blanket of darkness while flaming pillars crashed behind him. The pillars blazed through the darkness, but the dark void did not disappear. As the pillars retreated to the flaming fireball, the eye within the flame narrowed on the pink sphere.

Kirby panted and dropped to one knee. Why isn't anything working? He thought. I've hit this thing five times and it keeps bringing up some shield. I can't attack it!

As the flaming pillar surged, Kirby ducked to his left and let the electricity rush from his body again. A sound akin to screeching birds rang in Kirby's ear as a barrier materialized around the fireball. Before Kirby could stop the electricity, a pillar slammed into him and sent him towards one edge of the darkness. He gritted his teeth as the flames burned atop his head. Kirby patted the flames with one hand and wipes his eyes with the other.

The fireball reverted back to the polygon. The eyes scanned the darkness. At once, the eyes then slammed shut. The polygon shifted and spikes poked from each side. Orange poured onto each side as eight spikes pierced the figure like a blade jutting through an arm. The first spike stretched from the orange ball and sliced through the darkness. Then the second shot from the ball and into the void.

Kirby picked himself up as the third spike carved into the darkness' wall. He leapt to the right as the fourth spike cut through behind him. Just as the spike above him came down, Kirby shut his eyes as the spark force field expanded. Despite that, the fifth spike penetrated the barrier and slammed into his head. The force field vanished at once as Kirby stumbled backwards. Slobber trickled down his mouth as rolled over on his side.

Above, the spiked ball morphed back into the polygon, but then became a floating stone.

In his mind, Kirby thought he had seen a bleeding eyed cube morph from a fireball to a spike spitting sun to a jagged rock. It taunted him from above, moving from side to side before positioning itself right above Kirby. A rock exploded from each side and the darkness grew heavier. Why? Why couldn't he hurt this, this thing?

The rocks slammed down.

"Ribbon?"

"Yes, Mr. Kirby, sir?"

Ribbon turned around away from the window of Kirby's cottage, dropping to her knees in an overwhelming sadness. Her fingers traveled as far as the tiny shard would allow them. After a long moment, she looked up at Kirby.

"What are you afraid of? I told you I'd help you get these shard things back and you keep looking out the window like your planet's exploded or something."

Tilting her head to the right, Ribbon sobbed into her shoulder. She slammed her head into her shoulder, but her body had the weight of a stuffed animal and she gritted in frustration when pain did not arrive. Ribbon let her body plummet to the ground as her fingers tightened on the edges of the shard.

"I'm afraid."

There, she said it. After Kirby's comforting, Ribbon still feared for her life and that of Ripple Star's.

"You're afraid that you can't do it. Kirby had enough of the crying. Even though your queen sent you to save your planet, you're acting like it's hopeless. And now it's bringing you guilt for your planet's corruption."

"I am responsible for what's happening."

"No. We're all responsible for the choices we make. Your Queen believed in you. So where's your faith?"

Ribbon stared at her reflection in the shard, then at Kirby. "I'm trying."

"We'll take care of this Dark Matter thing when we get to it, but we won't if you let misery get the best of you-"

"Never!" Ribbon interrupted as her wings found motivation and she took flight. Such an emotion is forbidden on our planet. She gulped. Those emotions: loss, defeat, had no place on Ripple Star. "Despair is the most dangerous fear of all. I know this. So does my queen. She drifted until she floated in front of Kirby. Dark Matter can take on many forms, and even use the fear it sees inside of your soul against you. You must be ready for anything."

Kirby's eyes shot open as he shot towards the darkness' edge, away from the collapsing rocks. What did Ribbon mean anything? Some transforming cube? The blasted thing wouldn't just reveal a weak spot like everything else had, and what was this about fear in your soul?

The stone slammed into the ground. For five endless seconds, it waited, as did Kirby. But then it sped to its left in an uncontrollable frenzy. It reversed towards Kirby and flattened the spare debris in its path.

Memories of Pix flooded Kirby's mind- how did he find a weakness for that? Dumb luck. Right. Not this confused rubix cube that could not decide what it wanted to be. He watched the boulder return to the air before becoming the cube again.

Those stupid eyes are mocking me! Kirby ignored the jolt in his body as he pulled the yellow elemental crystal from his mouth. And this thing's not doing anything for me!

The cube buzzed and sizzled as sparks shot from each side. It became a surging spark that cast out yellow lasers on each side.

May as well get rid of this thing! Kirby thought as he tossed the crystal towards the spark. To his surprise, however, instead of a barrier coming up to deflect the attack, the crystal crashed into the spark.

The darkness around Kirby grew angry, flickering between complete darkness and just able to see at midnight. He shut his eyes at the sound of a horrifying wail coming from the spark. It began to flicker between the cube and the spark again before the darkness returned to normal.

Wait, what did I do? Kirby waited for an answer, but it never came.

The spark continued to buzz like the ever annoying presence of a fly at Kirby's ear. A beat, then a white laser shot from its core and just missed Kirby's right foot. The laser reappeared from another edge of darkness before it bounced off of the spark and split into two smaller lasers. The beams bumped into one another like bees in a mad rush before each beam shrunk into a slow floating spark.

Kirby edged towards a lone spark and reached out just enough to almost touch it, but jerked his hand back when the stinging sensation raced through his body. He tried a rush towards it, but the spark had vanished and the core had again reverted back to the cube.

Come on, I got a hit on it somehow! Do I have to throw crystals at it? Kirby stopped and thought about his own question before shaking it off. No, I don't have any more of those. What, was I supposed to come in prepared with tons of the things?

The temperature around Kirby plummeted as he watched ice freeze over the cube. Six smaller cubes materialized around it and shot ice shards in several directions while the cube rotated around the darkness. The puffball's teeth chattered. He rushed across the room to avoid the cubes that solidified the darkness upon contact, but then, he whipped back around to face the cube.

Wait, why not just turn into a cube? Why make the ice cubes around it if its not gonna launch them at me? Maybe I can

As the cube approached him, Kirby floated into the air and absorbed one of the smaller cubes. It didn't disagree with his stomach, so he swallowed it and almost leapt back in surprise when he let out a puff of cold air from his mouth. Before all of the ice could melt, Kirby removed the blue crystal and shot it towards a cube. The combined crystal landed under the cube as it returned to its original form.

The cube transformed yet again- this time back into the spiked ball. Again, each spike shot from the core and into the darkness, but Kirby had a plan this time around. As a spike stretched past him, he rolled into a medium sized snowball and plowed through three spikes. The snowball shrunk and gained a pink hue as Kirby returned to his original form.

He removed the larger blue and beige crystal from his mouth and threw it towards the ball, but another barrier appeared and deflected it back towards the darkness.

Before Kirby could strike the darkness in frustration, a bulb sparked to life in his head as he came to a sudden realization or so he hoped it was. He waited for the cube to transform again as he clenched his fists. I've got one shot at this.

When the cube transformed, the blazing eye reappeared again, searching for Kirby. It floated to the right before increasing its size when a fiery pillar shot out from each side.

Kirby held his ground and ignored the burning remains left by the pillars. He wanted the spark to appear again. If I'm right, this may be my best way to destroy it.

The flame returned to the cube while each eye zeroed in on Kirby. Trying to think of a plan, are you?

Kirby blinked.

Before you even conceive the thought, I remain a galaxys length ahead of you, star warrior. Do not attempt to defy me.

The cube spun and separated into three smaller boomerangs, similar to the arrangement of a Fishbone. Sharp teeth aligned the first crescent moon as it bore into the darkness and chomped through.

Kirby leapt across the darkness and paid no mind to the cutter. He wanted the spark again, not some imitation boomerang. Come on, already! So now you want to read my mind and destroy the darkness that you made? The buzzing sound of the cutter interrupted Kirby's thoughts and had him jumping towards the opposite end of the darkness.

When the cutter returned to the center, it reverted to the cube- still every eye occupied a slot. Less searching, then the cube buzzed as the spark reappeared.

Kirby narrowed his eyes. All right, cube. Just give me an opening.

The first beam of light zipped past Kirby's right foot and into the darkness as it sped through the opposite end of the void. When it collided with the spark, it split into another beam, which split into two smaller beams until tiny floating sparks remained.

Then Kirby made his move. He rushed towards the nearest spark and absorbed it. As the electricity built within his body again, he floated upward towards the spark and let the energy take over. His electricity surged and no mirror appeared before the spark this time.

Sparks flew from all directions as the giant spark in the center of the darkness groaned in anger. All of a sudden, Kirby heard a tiny explosion just as a beam slammed into him. He went flying towards the edge of darkness, but turned around just in time to see the spark sizzle before returning to the cube.

The cube spun slower than normal and Kirby had to squint, but he was sure that two, maybe three eyes had disappeared, black holes taking their place. Kirby's own eyes went out of focus like those of someone who had an epiphany. The electricity power plus his spark...that's it! But as Kirby realized what he had to do, he watched the cube and his smile dropped. He looked like the Whispy Woods had returned: an I don't want to go through all of this to beat this guy, but I've got no choice kind of face that reminded him that as menacing as his challenges had been, none had strayed away from having a vulnerability to their own projectiles.

As the cube transformed into the stone again, Kirby held the yellow crystal in his mouth as four rocks exploded from the stone once again. Once one hit the ground, Kirby dove and slammed the crystal into it. At once, he spat out a boulder attached to an electrical current. It went through the boulder instead of crashing against a barrier. Again, the boulder groaned from the attack, yet still landed on the darkness and rolled towards Kirby.

Kirby used one free hand to pull the current towards him and slam into the boulder before it could flatten him. The boulder flickered between its current state and the cube, but it rolled away to avoid further damage. But as soon as it retreated back towards the air, the electric rock smashed through it towards it could revert back to the cube. Another explosion, back to the cube, and more black spaces appeared.

Now I've got you! Kirby thought as he prepared for another transformation.

This time, however, a purplish coat surrounded the cube turned orb as four smaller spheres surrounded it.

There! Unguarded! Again, Kirby spat out the electric rock, but instead of making contact, it bounced against the barrier and slammed back into Kirby's face, jettisoning the yellow and brown crystal from his mouth. After his vision stopped blurring, Kirby rolled to his side just in time to see the crystal shatter. OK, so it doesn't work all of the time.

The surrounding orb split off from the larger one and drifted about the darkness. As they bobbed, they stretched and split into smaller pairs of orbs, but then three orbs vanished while the remaining three solidified. Remembering his last attempt at touching anything this cube produced, Kirby inhaled one orb and, after swallowing, burped a puff of smoke.

As the purple began to fade from the orb, Kirby took a quick chance and, to his surprise, threw a bomb that exploded upon contact at the last second. The orb glowed when the bomb made its mark, yet still managed to revert back to the cube.

I see. So you are not just a simple colored piece of fluff. One of the polygon's eyes began blinking out of control like an ant had crawled inside and made its territory. The polygon then split apart back into the snapping cutter again.

Kirby stood back and removed the black crystal from his mouth. One of those things has to be usable. As the cutter snapped through the darkness, Kirby blinked. The first blade slashed through the darkness with its teeth, the second just skirted above the darkness, but the third one could not reach the void at all. There it is! As soon as the blades flew upward, Kirby threw the crystal towards the smaller blade and a new crystal had been formed.

He steered clear of the snapping blades just in time to absorb the crystal. He enjoyed the familiar sense of power as, in an instant; he threw out a black star that attached itself to the middle blade. It exploded and caused the blades to slow down. As the blades devoured the left wall of the darkness, Kirby flung his arm forward again and another star stuck to the first cutter and exploded.

The middle blade hung without motion between the other two blades. Kirby narrowed his eyes and noticed the cutters begin to flicker on and off, but before it could transform back into the polygon, Kirby flung another star and it stuck to the largest blade. When it exploded, all three of the blades caught ablaze and reverted back to the cube in an instant.

Less red eyes this time, Kirby thought as he watched the polygon's rotation slow. No longer the rapid spin when the darkness first appeared. I have to be getting closer. He pulled out two ninja stars and waited for the next transformation.

The temperature dropped as the polygon solidified.

"Great. The ice cube again." Kirby flung both stars toward the cube, but bounced against the barrier and exploded at opposite ends of the barrier. Kirby shrugged as he removed the green and black crystal and threw it towards the darkness. "Well, there goes that idea." Kirby leapt on top of the first spinning cube and absorbed the cube next to it. A cold spray burst from his mouth and cascaded across the center cube.

All of a sudden, the center cube began to spin faster. The surrounding cubes circled the block just as fast and before Kirby could lose his food and the power, he leapt towards the center cube. Upon grabbing it, Kirby felt pain shoot up and down his body like needles slicing through exposed flesh. As the cube continued to spin, Kirby inhaled as much air as he could and let out more frozen air than he wanted to.

The ice from Kirby's mouth covered the entire cube and all of the cubes surrounding the center one stopped. One by one, the cubes fell to the ground and plummeted into the darkness. The ice cube in the center warbled and shook and shattered. The polygon returned, but this time, three red eyes lost their color. Three more black spaces decorated the polygon.

Kirby removed the blue crystal and waited for the next transformation. It can't be much longer now.

Purple bled over the polygon turned orb, but the surrounding orbs spun faster than before. Aside from splitting off, each of the four orbs solidified within ten seconds of each other.

It doesn't matter how I do this now. Kirby floated towards the two nearest orbs and absorbed both. It can't hold the entire transformation anymore.

Out of Kirby's mouth emerged four rockets. Two spiraled and spun towards the two remaining purple orbs, the other two crashed dead center into the middle orb. Before the orb could even revert back to the polygon, the color disappeared until it became as blank as paper plate in a snowstorm.

Its shape altered between the sphere to the polygon to the frozen cube, but as soon as it became the cube again, it screeched in pain and morphed back into the polygon.

What are you?

The darkness surrounding Kirby alternated between an empty void and the empty hall in the bowels of Ripple Star, but the darkness regained its composure for the moment.

The fireball reappeared. Except this time, without floating to the left or right, fiery pillars burst from the core in six directions.

Kirby sidestepped one pillar, leapt past another, and almost missed having his head incinerated when he stopped just in time before another.

I am the darkness that has plagued you for so long, star warrior.

Kirby completed assembling two fiery cores and leapt into the air.

You act as if you understand the young fairy's plight, but you know nothing of the pain of loss.

As Kirby inched forward, he allowed the burning sensation to envelop him as he became a raging fireball.

Your power is inferior to that of mine. And of his. Your power comes as a response to a need to aid the fairy, not of your own volition.

The fireball surged through the flaming core and into the edge of the dark void. Again, an explosion pleased Kirby's ears as he turned around and saw but just two eyes remaining.

What pushes you, star warrior? You believe destroying my essence will rid the world of evil, of this planet's plight? Have you no sense of rational thinking?

The spiked ball.

Kirby discarded one half of his red elemental crystal just as the spikes began to extend around him.

Does a glowing crystal ensure a life of peace if the planet holding it could be corrupted as it was?

When he heard the clang of his crystal crashing into one of the spiky ends, Kirby leapt into the air with as much power as his feet would let him. He absorbed the crystal and faced the spiked ball. His body twisted and shifted as he took the shape of a bow. A flame tipped arrow centered on the ball.

Why do you allow an entire planet's fate to rest on your shoulders? What business do you have to interfere with the fairy's life? Do you even know who she is?

The arrow struck the dead center of the orb. All of a sudden, the remaining spikes embedded in the darkness vanished. The spiked orb split down the middle and cracked to reveal the polygon, now filled with black holes.

Kirby landed on the void. "I know more about her than you ever will." He turned around to face the now trembling polygon. "I also know this."

The polygon convulsed and shook, then expanded until it reached each edge of the darkness, the hard shell holding it together cracking and breaking in every direction. Kirby watched with unmoving eyes as the polygon exploded into hundreds of small fragments.

"You cannot stand against the light."

As the darkness began to slither back up the wall, removing any sense of fear and dread, Kirby's heart rate slowed. The loss, the despair that plagued him and ripped apart his soul now retreated to the ceiling and slinked through the cracks of the wall. Those glaring red eyes would now stumble in darkness forever as the last of the empty void vanished, leaving a glowing orb in its place.

Kirby held a hand in front of his face; this light shined brighter than Magman's flames or the blazing sun atop Rock Star. He approached the light with the cautiousness of a child experimenting with their first electrical socket. As he reached out to touch the light, he heard the door at the end of the room open.

The red of Adeleine's hat was the first thing Kirby saw as the artist came running out with her hands extended. "Kirby! He's alive, you guys!" Instead of a simple hug, Adeleine tackled the pink puffball to the bottom of the stairs. "Yes! You did it!"

Waddle Dee preferred to walk. "Kirby, are you alright?"

That little runt did it. Dedede shook his head. He placed his hammer on the ground and chuckled. "OK, I'll admit it: you did good, pink. I could've done it in half the time but-"

"Everyone."

The lack of urgency in Ribbon's voice had everyone look in her direction as she approached the glowing orb. The orb's glow began to flicker as the thin outline of a shard appeared from within. Ribbon took out the shard from her dress and held it alongside the orb. In a twisted show of what Kirby perceived to be magic, the two orbs of light joined.

A brilliant radiance emerged from within and the five felt their bodies lift from the ground.

Adeleine kicked and tried to touch the ground again. Hey, what's going on?

They vanished.

The orb reappeared before Queen Gretchen's castle. At once, with all purity now retained within the shard once again, the dazzling light shined in every direction, casting the clout of dark clouds out of the sky. The sun at last could shine down on Ripple Star as every single visible remnant of evil, of every despicable thought and creature that had plagued the planet for so long, scurried into the air.

Now without the stench of evil to mist its eyes, the heart of Ripple Star smiled again as its joyful glow shined across the galaxy. It watched with the utmost glee as the Dark Matter dashed out of its view and, with any luck, into a burning blaze of finality.

Ribbon's heart beat slowed and she held her hand in front of her face. The blue skies. The castle. The queen's castle. She could see it. She could see it all in front of her- not a dream, not some vision, not a trick her mind or Dark Matter had played on her. No, what she had hoped and prayed for had come to past. Those days spent running from snapping crabs and avoiding a volcanic eruption or those nights crying herself to sleep- no more.

Ribbon's mouth twitched and threatened to erupt into a full smile.

She allowed it.

Waddle Dee narrowed his eyes. "Not sure why the Dark Matter is just flying away, but-"

"I know what it means!" Adeleine cut him off and rushed forward. "We fought and fought, but we never had a doubt in our mind! But now-"

Dedede crossed his shoulders in triumph. Kirby and Ribbon threw their arms into the air, and Adeleine lifted a still skeptical Waddle Dee into the air as they all shared the same collective notion:

"WE DID IT!"

"Ribbon!"

Ribbon stopped and saw the familiar faces of Emily and Dixie, along with most of Ripple Star's inhabitants, rushing towards her. The onslaught of fairies made Ribbon freeze in mid flight as her friends returned to her.

"Ribbon, my goodness, you made it!" Dixie engulfed Ribbon in a heavy hug. "I thought the Dark Matter had corrupted you and...my word, is that the Shard?"

The Shard moved to the center of the crowd, which parted to reveal the individual standing at the center.

"I always knew you would succeed, my Ribbon."

Fresh streams of tears now raced down Ribbon's cheeks as the kind, innocent smile of Queen Gretchen greeted her again. Her wings fluttered as she flew into the Queen's arms.

"My queen! I can't believe it! I'm home!"

The crowd erupted into applause and cheers, while Kirby and the others stood in the back.

"Don't we get a fanfare, too?" Adeleine asked before Dedede slapped the back of her head.

"You're ruining the moment, artist."

"Come on, guys. Let's go meet the queen."

As Kirby, Adeleine, and Dedede rushed into the crowd, Waddle Dee looked out of the corner of his eye. For a second, he could have sworn on his life that a red eye shrouded in darkness had blinked at him from behind a tree. But he rubbed his eyes and saw nothing but a tree. Just a tree.

"I'm seeing things."

Ribbon turned at the sound of Adeleine's voice. She then faced the Queen. "My lady, these are the ones responsible for ridding our planet and this galaxy of the darkness. I owe them-we owe them everything." She flew into the air to address the crowd. "Citizens, I give you our warriors of the light! Kirby, the star warrior. King Dedede, the strong. Waddle Dee, the intelligent. And young Adeleine-"

The artists face beamed.

"Such a young, nave girl."

And then she frowned

"Together, they joined and overcame the evil known as Dark Matter!"

Louder applause stretched across the village as the Queen made her way towards Kirby.

"Young star warrior, we are forever grateful for your efforts." The Queen bowed, her crown and glasses almost falling off in the process. "Forgive my clumsiness. It would take a miracle to keep my composure."

"A what?" Waddle Dee asked himself.

Kirby nodded. "Think nothing of it, Miss Gretchen. We did what we had to and we're just glad your planet's not so cloudy anymore. But we must return."

"What?" Adeleine yelped from behind Kirby.

"Artist, we have to go back to Pop Star. Ribbon is back on her planet with the Shard, so we should head back to our own planet, too," Dedede added.

The queen nodded. "I am sorry that you must leave us so soon, star warrior, but we do have a ship prepared that travels across the galaxy. Please take it as a token of our gratitude."

They turned to see a yellow pod aligned with hearts open up. Adeleine scurried inside, followed by Dedede and Waddle and-

"Kirby?"

Ribbon floated to Kirby's side. "Thank you. I owe you my life and everything I have. You gave me faith, the motivation to go on and I will never forget you for that."

Kirby refused to let himself cry. He blinked over and over until the urge passed. His friend, a sister who he had come to love through the bond they forged, would now return to her place on her planet and his place on Pop Star. "Ribbon, you became, you are, and always will be my friend." He extended his hand. And believe me, I will be back. Pop Star is just a few planets away."

Ribbon extended her own hand until it met Kirby's. A light glowed between them- one bright enough to make even the Queen squirm- and the bond they had created would never be broken.

Kirby took as much time as he could to back into the pod. When he did, he looked to Waddle Dee. "What's wrong?"

"This ship just doesn't seem like it's built to travel all the way back to Pop Star, much less one planet."

"I'm sure that'll change once we get into the air," Adeleine responded.

The five of them stared at each other for the last time. No more of Dedede's nighttime stories or Adeleine's complaining. No more swinging over vines or riding dangerous mine cart rides. They had lived to triumph over darkness and now their time together had ended.

The ship lifted into the sky and without waiting for a last goodbye, it soared upwards and away from Ripple Star in a flash of light.

Ribbon continued to wave until she could not see the ship any longer. She sighed and embraced the shard. "Kirby. Such a nice name. I know I haven't seen the last of him."

Before Ribbon could continue, she heard the Queen chuckle. But no one else laughed or heard anything funny. The Queen held down her head and moved her fingers as if playing an invisible piano.

"Oh, little fairy, you have no idea. You have done me a great service. In addition to delivering the completed Crystal Shard right to me, you have rid us of that pink irritation and solidified my grasp on this planet." She removed her glasses. "And the invasion shall continue without his interference."

As the Queen raised her head, Ribbon looked, and then held her chest as the Queen stared back at her with devilish purple eyes.

"You're-!"

The Queen's hand lashed out and grabbed Ribbon before she could finish.

From behind every home, through every crack and out of every tunnel, remnants of Dark Matter crawled from their hiding space as, bit by bit, darkness inched its way back over Ripple Star.

The fairies of Ripple Star screamed and ran in every direction to avoid darkness once again.

Up in the air, if Kirby had tried hard enough, he could have been able to hear the cries of help from Ripple Star's fairies.

However, they would have been by Waddle Dee's, Adeleine's, Dedede's and his own screams as their pod, already out of energy, plummeted back down towards Ripple Star.

Note: Phew. This took longer than I thought. I know I rushed on the ending scene, but Im sure youll be able to figure out why. Also, I had to have Kirby go through trial and error during the battle so it would not end in an instant. Hope you enjoyed the read.