El thrashed in the arms of the orderlies, doing her best to escape their grasp. But it was no use; their big hands keeping her small arms crushed painfully in their grip. She was tossed into the Dark Room, hitting the cold, hard tile painfully.
"Papa!" She cried. "Please! Papa!"
But it was no use; the door was closed. El ran up to it and pounded, but knew that she could have Papa's attention all day; it didn't matter until he wanted to acknowledge it.
And that usually wasn't for a very, very long time.
El slowly backed away, the tile ice-cold on her bare feet, and sat down heavily. The Dark Room was so cold.
She was scared the tears streaming down her cheeks would freeze to her face. She curled up, instinctively doing her best to preserve warmth, and cried.
"El!"
El jolted awake, but felt her movement hindered. Still in a panic and not fully awake or aware of her surroundings yet, she thrashed around in a panic, trying to escape whatever was wrapped around her body.
"El! El, stop! It's okay!" A familiar voice called. Where had she heard it before? Her eyesight cleared as she relaxed and stopped struggling, seeing a round, pink creature above her, gazing down with worried blue eyes.
"K...Kirby?" She asked, still a bit confused. Kirby sighed in relief now that she had calmed down. Then he smiled, but failed to hide his worry completely. El's eyes inadvertently narrowed in suspicion. Why was he trying to hide his true feelings around her?
"El, you're still in your sleeping bag, remember?" He asked. El looked down, to see that the thing that had cocooned her body had been the sleeping bag all along. She felt a bit silly, now. "You gotta do it like this, silly!" Kirby said brightly, a lot more real happiness in his tone and eyes now, though El could still see worry there. He unzipped the zipper in the middle of the sleeping bag, opening it up and freeing El.
She sat up, looking around. Green grass, the tree, a few apple cores laying around-yes, this was where she had fallen asleep last night. Outside Kirby's house, in Dream Land, on another planet. A world away from Papa, who was gone, anyway.
But a world away from her friends, too. Aside from the nightmare, she felt well-rested. She saw that it was now morning. She had slept straight through the night.
"Boy, that must've been some nightmare," Kirby said. El looked down at him. His smile was friendly, and not fake, but no longer as bright anymore, either. El suddenly realized something. Something very, very important.
"Is there... a bathroom?"
She had to pee.
Kirby's eyes turned white and his pupils shrunk. El almost giggled. He looked like a surprised cartoon character. They quickly went back to normal, and he started rubbing the back of his head, looking embarrassed and guilty. "Heh! Sorry! I don't have one at my house. Because I don't need one."
El's face must've fallen, because Kirby soon perked up. "But don't worry! I have a friend who does! And I was planning on taking you to see him this morning, anyway!"
El stood up. "Are there any more... tomatoes?" She asked. Kirby shook his head. "There's no need for that, poyo! We're gonna have breakfast at my friend's place! After you go to the bathroom, of course."
"Okay," El said. "I'm ready to go."
Kirby's smile brightened. "Okay! Here, just let me call my Warp Star really quick."
El's eyebrow furrowed. What was a Warp Star? She got her answer quickly, as she soon heard a twinkling sound, as a bright yellow star lowered itself toward the ground, and Kirby hopped on.
He turned around to see El staring at him in confusion. "Oh. Sorry! I always forget new friends don't know what my Warp Star is. It lets me get from place to place, and can fly!"
"Fly?" El asked. "Yep!" Kirby said. El walked over to it, and hesitantly got onto the floating star. Her eyes widened. She didn't know what it was, but the Warp Star felt like... happiness. Pure happiness. It tingled under her hands. "Kirby... I... are you sure this is..."
"Hmm? Oh, don't worry; it's safe. It won't let you fall off, I promise."
El's eyes widened. Then watered a bit as she thought of Mike. "Promise?" She asked. "Yup," he said. "I promise. Its got a mind of its own; it won't let you off unless it knows you want to get off."
"...okay..." El said nervously. "Alright!" Kirby cheered happily. El couldn't help but smile a little, herself. He was so happy, it was hard not to feel that way, too. "I'll fly low, okay?" He asked. El nodded, even though his back was turned and he couldn't see it. "Alright, then! To Castle Dedede!" He cheered.
And with that, the Warp Star took off. El was nervous at first because of the speed and height-a good few feet off the ground. But Kirby made a promise, telling her it was safe. And promises couldn't ever be broken; that was what Mike had told her. So, she soon relaxed; if still a bit nervous.
And once she did that, she found that riding the Warp Star wasn't so bad, after all.
They soon arrived at a huge brick castle, looking like the ones from fairy tale picture books Papa had read to her. This one was on a rocky mountain, and had two little openings at the top that looked like angry eyes.
The Warp Star lowered gently down to the ground. El carefully got off, while Kirby happily hopped off, carefree. The Warp Star then disintegrated into a bunch of smaller stars. One of the small creatures El had seen wandering all around when she first arrived and while she had been riding the Warp Star walked up to her and Kirby.
This one was wearing some sort of blue cloth around his head, similar to the one Lucas had worn. "H-heya, Kirby!" The creature said as he stopped in front of them. "Hi, Bandana!" Kirby waved happily. Kirby walked up to the "Bandana" creature and hugged him. When Kirby pulled away, Bandana was blushing.
He soon looked up at El. "W-woah! A Human!" He said in surprise. "W-welcome to His Majesty's castle! You're a friend of Kirby's, I presume?"
Presume? What did that mean? Seeing El struggling, Kirby jumped in to help. "Y-yeah, Bandana; she's with me."
Kirby turned to look at her with a bright smile. "El, this is Bandana Waddle Dee, King Dedede's royal advisor, number-one servant, and general of the army."
El didn't know what the other terms meant, but her eyes widened in alarm at the word "army". Those were the people Papa had said were interested in her powers; the ones who wanted her to use them to-to hurt people.
The bad men.
El's eyes narrowed in suspicion at Bandana. He may have been cute, but if he was with an army, then he was probably bad, too. Was that why Kirby had brought her here? So the "king" of this place could make her his weapon?
Like Papa?
El let her look of suspicion turn to one of open hostility. She was openly glaring at the two ball-creatures now, and was making sure they were well aware of how much taller than them she was. In response, though he didn't have a hand, she could tell Bandana was tightening his grip on the pointy weapon in his hand.
He began trembling, but forced himself to hold still. Speaking in a still-polite tone, his voice shook, but she could tell he was forcing it steady. "I-I'm afraid I cannot allow you into the castle if you harbor any hostile intentions toward his Royal Highness. I-I will use force if necessary."
Unlike the scared, but determined Bandana, Kirby was returning her glare with a look of concern. As if, despite what she'd done when she first woke up in Dream Land, he wasn't scared of her; of what she could do. "El, what's wrong? I only introduced him. Are you okay?"
El's brow furrowed in confusion as her glare disappeared. El was pretty good at reading faces; alien or otherwise. It was how she could tell and prepare for whether Papa was going to reward or punish her. But looking at Kirby's frown and worried blue eyes, she saw only... just that. Worry.
Still a bit cautious, but somewhat satisfied he might not have tricked her after all, or at least might not have meant to, El looked at Bandana (who tensed in response) and said one word.
"Bad."
Kirby's look of confusion and concern deepened; he now looked a bit upset. "What, El? No! No, Bandana's my friend, he's not bad, I promise! What would make you think that?"
El's own confusion deepened as she said "Army."
"What?" Kirby asked, now looking a bit scared. Bandana was now visibly sweating. "S-she has the army after her? B-but... I'd know if Great King was after someone! I-I'm the general! It's been completely quiet ever since you took care of those Squeak Squad troublemakers a few months back, Kirby! And why would Great King be after some Human girl, anyway?!" Bandana asked.
Bandana looked quite distressed. "B-Bandana, calm down; she's not from around here!" Kirby said, placing both of his stubby hand-like things on Bandana in an attempt to calm him down.
It worked, with confusion replacing Bandana's panic. "What?" Bandana asked. Kirby was looking at Bandana very seriously. "Bandana, she's not from Dream Land, and she's never even heard of Popstar. She said she's from a planet called Earth."
Bandana started panicking again, albeit less so, now. Waving his nubs in the air a bit, he said "B-but that's crazy! Since when do Humans live on other planets?!"
Kirby sighed. "Bandee, please, calm down. You're probably scaring her. I didn't know Humans lived on other planets, either, but there's so few of them on Popstar. I've never heard of this 'Earth' place, but a few Humans could've come from there to Popstar. It'd explain why there's barely any around here. I don't know how El got here, but she was asleep when Gooey and I found her, and woke up all scared. She clearly had no idea where she was! She also had a nightmare this morning. That means she's gotta be new to Popstar, otherwise the Fountain of Dreams would've kicked in already."
Bandana had calmed down, and looked at El. The fear was gone from his eyes, and they now twinkled with curiosity. Though he didn't have a mouth, El imagined it would be open in shock. Kirby looked at El; now looking a bit nervous, before quietly telling Bandee "And... there's more. More we need to talk about with Dedede."
Bandana looked at El once more, eyes softer, now. "Well... I... A-alright. I couldn't call myself a proud servant of Great King if I denied a lost child help. You two may enter."
El didn't know why he was calling her a child. He didn't sound like an adult. He sounded only a little older than Mike and the others, after all, but if he was going to help her return home, she wouldn't give him a reason not to.
Looking at El carefully, he said "Now, don't take this the wrong way, but I'm going to have some guards escort us in, alright?"
El's heartbeat quickened at the word 'guards', but she was still confused. What did 'escort' mean? Kirby looked at Bandee with a small smile. "Bandana, you can't really use big words around her. Uh, no offense, El!"
El had no clue what he was talking about, but he sounded like he was apologizing for something, so she simply said "It's... okay...?"
Kirby sighed in relief while Bandee looked embarrassed. "S-sorry. What I mean is, I'm going to have some guards walk us in. If it were just Kirby-er, I mean-" Bandee cut himself off and sighed. "Sorry. It's not that I think you're going to do anything bad. You're just...new... and it's my job to be careful when it comes to the king."
El nodded slowly. She understood. From what Papa had taught her, she knew kings were important; and you didn't 'take risks' when it was your job to protect them.
Also, it wasn't as if she hadn't given Bandee a reason not to trust her. She had just been about to fight him, provided he said the wrong thing and she misunderstood. That was what always caused Lucas to get angry at her, although it was usually the other way around.
"I just thought I'd warn you ahead of time. S-so you're not-um-startled," Bandee said. Then, he yelled toward the door to the castle. "Guards! We have visitors! I need one of you to go inform his Royal Highness!"
Four more Bandee-like creatures (minus the blue head-thing) came marching out of the castle, holding the same pointy weapon Bandee was. They looked a bit funny, if El was being honest. They were tiny, but marching just like Human soldiers. She couldn't find it in herself to be scared of them.
Still, she had no plans of testing them. When the group of four reached El, Bandee, and Kirby, two of the creatures placed themselves on either side of El and Kirby, pointy weapons at rest at their sides.
El noticed that the two to her side, despite clearly trying to hide it (not that they had much expression anyways, what with the lack of a mouth) were gazing up at her with curiosity twinkling in their eyes. El was really starting to want to hug one of them. They were just so cute.
Bandee offered Kirby an apologetic look from where he stood in front of them all, most likely trying to make clear that the guards weren't because he didn't trust Kirby. "S-sorry, Kirby. I-it's not for you, of course."
Kirby waved a nub in the air, as if to tell Bandee not to worry about it. "I know, Bandana! No worries!"
Bandee nodded, before turning around to face the entrance of the castle.
"Well, then, if you're both ready, let's get going. T-there's no need to keep the king waiting!"
A/N: And there you have it, folks. Next chapter will be El's first meeting her new fath-sorry-with King Dedede. Just to be clear, like in Far-Flung Hero of the Stars, Revenge of the King took place just after Kirby Squeak Squad, which this fic is set about three months after. Thus, Kirby and Dedede have settled things, and are now friends, although Dedede's still in the process of warming up to Kirby. Kirby visiting is a normal thing, though, hence Bandana's casualness with him in this chapter. About five months from now is Epic Yarn, and Return to Dream Land a year after that, with most of that occurring the week before Stranger Things Season 3, with the final battle with Magolor, as seen in Far-Flung, taking place at the very beginning of Episode One of Season 3.
I struggled writing Season 1 El at first; just because, well, the show doesn't give me much to work with. If I remember correctly, El only says a few hundred words in the first season. You'll notice she's way different here than how she is in Far-Flung Hero of the Stars. She's still pretty skittish there, but she's had time to be a normal kid and mellow out, thus why she believes Kirby so easily. She strikes me as (provided she's gotten over her fresh-out-of-the-lab tendency to not trust anybody), a naive person at heart; much like Kirby. Season 3 El is much more trusting. Unfortunately for Kirby and the crew, this El is coming straight out of Season 1, which was a nonstop fight for her freedom. She doesn't do well around official types like Bandana Waddle Dee (because he's the equivalent of the soldiers that've visited the lab before) and it might take her a while to trust Dedede; because for all she knows, he's just another Papa (little does she know he's actually a big softy who will want nothing more than to take care of her and is literally just Hopper's Dream Land counterpart). So, yeah, sorry if she's not very trusting and is a bit hostile. She'll get better.
I hope you enjoyed; please review so I can hear your thoughts on where this is going right now, and as always, I will see you guys...
Next time...