Chapter 8
The clouds which hung densely over Dreamland slowly began to lift as the day progressed, the fog evaporating under the growing heat of the sun. As time wore on it, turned into a beautiful day. The temperature was perfect, clouds being gently blown across the sky by a light breeze stirring the air.
The Cappies were out and about in Pupu village, shopping, playing, walking, and enjoying the beautiful weather. The village's town square in particular was especially crowded, as a small art fair had set up with booths featuring unusual art and sculptures from traveling artists.
Chief Borun walked quietly through the fair, marveling at the various creative works on display. He was there as a part of his job, to make sure that no one tried to make off with any of the unique and expensive art pieces on display, but the town's crime rate was so low that it might as well have been a day off. Borun whistled happily as he walked by before a particular stall caught his eye. He leaned into the booth, peering closely at one of the more unique metal sculptures on display. He'd never seen a Bronto Burt made entirely out of spoons before.
As the policeman admired the sculpture, he noticed the sunny glint that reflected on the silver spoons gradually fade out. The sky appeared to darken slightly, the sun no longer beating down on him or the other townsfolk. At first, Borun welcomed the shade. He then looked up at the sky, making sure that the shade was caused by a passing cloud and rather than an oncoming storm.
Chief Borun's black eyes widened slowly, jaw dropping, as he watched the sky go black. His first thought was that the citizens of Dreamland were about to be the victim of a sudden, severe storm or tornado. While such events were so rare that most Cappies went their entire lives without seeing one, even Dreamland was not always safe from a rare freak storm. An enormous shadow fell upon every single Cappy in the town square and beyond, blotting out the sun entirely. The joyful murmur of the villagers turned into shouting and gasps of surprise, the high pitched wails of frightened children rising above the din of the crowd. Chief Borun surveyed the scene and cast his eyes upward again, staring hard at the foreboding sky; he did not expect the blackness to suddenly start staring back down at him.
A single bloodshot eye, so enormous it looked larger than a harvest moon, opened up in the middle of the all-encompassing black cloud. The crowd's confused cries escalated into screams, and the Cappies began to run in all directions in a blind panic. The eye rolled slowly, its terrible gaze moving downwards until it settled on Chief Borun. Borun, frozen in shock and terror, stood transfixed by its nightmarish stare like a trapped prey animal.
All at once the black form's tendrils rapidly descended from the sky; first one, then two, than a dozen and more. Each black cloud-like tendril, enveloped in a swirling purple vortex of smoke, snaked and winded its way to the ground like a thin tornado funnel. Borun watched helplessly as the tendrils began to land, homing in on Cappies in the village, and strike one by one. A young woman was taken by a tendril, screaming as the funnel thinned and flew into her mouth. She managed to choke out a scream that was cut short, the woman falling to the ground convulsing. She then abruptly grew still. A few seconds later, she rose again. Her eyes were closed, her movements stilted and unnatural. Wisps of strange purple smoke, identical to the purple air surrounding the black tendrils, oozed from her mouth and earholes. Borun listened, horrified, as one by one the anguished cries of the village fell silent.
Somehow through the chaos, Chief Borun felt his legs able to move again. He broke out into a run, tripping over himself in his haste to escape. As he ran, he witnessed a tendril descending from the sky directly above him. He continued to run, gasping for air, before his vision suddenly became engulfed in a swirling, violent vortex. Borun tried to scream but found himself unable to, the strange funnel having gone down his throat. Overcome with panic and an instinct to breathe, he fell to his knees while choking.
A new presence filled Chief Borun's mind. It rapidly blossomed within him, causing a feeling as if his brain was quickly being eaten alive by a parasite. The strange force began to take hold, gripping him. His throat cleared, Borun managed to scream twice. During the third attempt, he realized that he could not will his mouth to move. His black eyes, now glowing with a faint and translucent purple from within, slowly closed. Chief Borun continued to scream within his mind, feeling like his very sense of self was trapped in a bubble, as the foreign presence proceeded to seep into the core of his brain. It could access his memories, his desires and dreams. It caused him to breathe, to blink. There was no single part of Chief Borun's body or mind that was his anymore. And all the Cappy could do, trapped within the deepest recesses of his own mind, was watch.
Chief Borun's body stood up, eyes closed. His feet plodded forward, the top half of his body sagging slightly. He walked over to the other taken Cappies, who began to move towards the outskirts of Pupu village all in a mindless herd.
The entire group, women, children, and men alike, began to head towards Dedede's castle.
Fumu looked up from her notes, raising an eyebrow. Not wanting to vomit a chaotic load of information onto her friends based on her findings, she chose to instead put together an orderly set of notes stating what she believed to be the relic with the power to protect Dreamland. It took a lot to tear her from her work, and one of the few things able to do so was the sky suddenly becoming so dark that she needed another light to see well in the castle's study room.
"What the..." Fumu said, looking out the window as the sky became pitch black. Her jaw dropped, the notes she carried in one hand falling to her feet. She screamed, running out into the courtyard. Bun and Kirby were playing outside while she organized her notes; she had to protect them first.
The two young boys met Fumu halfway, the usually strong girl nearly bursting into tears of relief when she saw that Kirby and her little brother were okay. The three then dashed through the halls of the castle, preparing to alert the knights.
Kirby and the children stopped in Meta Knight's room. They found Sword, Blade, and Shieldmaiden all standing in an anxious group. On the windowsill Meta Knight was perched, back facing the group as he stared out at the castle below.
"Sir, it's here!" Fumu cried.
Shieldmaiden's eyes drained of all color, glowing white with fear.
"Dark Matter", she said, voice quavering. "It has come."
"I think I found the right relic to stop this thing!" Fumu said. She then opened and closed her hands, checking her pockets frantically. She forgot her notes.
Fumu strained her brain, trying to recall as much as she could in the middle of panicking. "It...it's in the southern jungle! There's a disc that was broken into two even pieces and hidden away because it was feared to be too powerful for a mortal being to hold. If we combine them, it should be enough to stop Dark Matter!"
"Thank the Stars. Good work" Sword said, looking over at her.
Meta Knight turned sideways, the side of his mask facing the group. "We have to get out of here. NOW."
"How?" Fumu asked.
"We'll have to fly there "Meta Knight replied. "We'll have to go to wherever this relic is right away. Shieldmaiden and I can fly - the rest of you are going to have to fit on Warp Star. It's going to be a tight squeeze, but we have no choice."
"B-but what about the Waddle Dees? And the villagers? And...what about Mom and Dad?" Bun asked, voice cracking.
Meta Knight cast his emotionless gaze downwards, his voice solemn. "We'll come back and save them."
Meta Knight looked outside again. Already, Waddle Dees were pouring from the castle's gates in defense of their King. Far into the distance, he could already see the advancing horde – Cappies, every single one of them possessed and moving under Dark Matter's will, were descending upon the castle. Meta Knight knew that every single inhabitant of the castle, from Dedede and Escargon to Fumu and Bun's parents, were doomed. He felt a pang in his heart for all of the denizens of the castle that were going to be consumed by Dark Matter in a matter of minutes, but with his battleship the Halberd destroyed he had no way of getting anyone else to safety. Even fitting five people onto the Warp Star, despite Kirby and Bun being small, was going to be difficult and probably very dangerous. They had no choice but to try.
Meta Knight hopped down from the windowsill. "Let's go."
Fumu fought back tears as the group ran outside of the castle's rear entrance, hands shaking violently as she clasped them together to send her wish for Warp Star. All she could picture was Parm and Memu screaming as they became engulfed in darkness, probably spending the last seconds of their freedom searching for their lost children, before Dark Matter overtook them.
Kirby, the warriors, and the two children ran out of the castle through the back entrance, the same one Meta Knight utilized previously to bring Shieldmaiden in undetected. One by one they emerged from the rear of the castle. Upon exiting the small, poorly-maintained door, they all gasped in horror at the sight.
Even though they could not see what was happening in front of the castle, they got a glimpse of the extent of Dark Matter's control. Already the sky above them had blackened, reaching out past the cliff and a good distance into the sea beyond. From that black cloud tendrils occasionally swooped down, searching for any sentient life within their range before lifting back up into the cloud again. The tears freely ran down Fumu's cheeks; even as strong as she was, this was too much for her.
"Warp Star!" She cried into the darkness.
It was not long afterward that a bright yellow dot streaked through the sky at blinding speed, soaring towards them and coming to a gentle rest by Kirby's feet. Kirby hopped on and prepared to take off alone, glaring angrily at the sky above.
"No, Kirby! We can't win this, we have to use Warp Star to run!" Meta Knight said.
"Poyo!" Kirby said defiantly, shaking his head. He remained posed on the Warp Star.
"Kirby, please! He's right. We're not running away for good. We're just going to get a weapon that can help us defeat that thing." Fumu added.
Kirby looked her dead in the eye angrily. The rare look of fury on his almost-always cheery face shook her to her core; it was a look reserved for his enemies.
"Please..." she begged. "I don't want to run right now either, but we have to. The sooner we go get the weapon, the sooner we come back! If we go charging in right now, it would be suicide!"
Kirby shut his eyes tight, looking down.
"Poooooyyyo" He said, his eyes opening again. Brimming with tears, they were now filled with sadness rather than anger. He wanted so badly to save the castle right that second, but while he didn't truly understand the nuances of what Fumu and Meta Knight were explaining, he knew that if they both agreed so strongly that there had to be a good reason.
"We're all gonna have to get on Warp Star to fly there...I think if we balance on each point and hold onto it tightly, we'll be okay." Blade reasoned. "Kirby, whatever you do don't hit top speed!"
"Popoyo" Kirby responded with a nod, maneuvering himself from the center of the star to one of its edges. Sword, Blade, Fumu and Bun each got on the star and held onto each point, crowded together on the little star with their bodies facing outward. As they jostled into position, a slim black funnel-shaped cloud began to descend from above them.
"Hold on for your lives! Kirby, get going! Fly South!"
Kirby nodded, face grim with determination, lifting off as quickly as he could without tossing his friends off. Warp Star then began to take off. Meta Knight and Shieldmaiden flared their wings and flew after it, the group rapidly outpacing the slow reach of the sky tendril.
They noted as they flew that under the overhang of swirling black sky, a peek of merry blue could be seen. Fumu and Bun could barely keep their eyes open, their hair whipping wildly in and around their face as they clung desperately to the speeding Warp Star.
As they reached the edges of Dark Matter's reach, a small orb descended from the blackness. A single eye, identical to the one Chief Borun saw but far smaller, opened itself. The black orb bobbed in the air for a moment, then slowly drifted in the direction Warp Star had flown in.